WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1986
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'STEADY PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING JOINT DECLARATION'
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A STEADY RECORD OF FAITHFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SINO-BRITISH. JOINT DECLARATION IS ESSENTIAL TO MAINTAINING CONFIDENCE IN THE AGREEMENT, AND SUCH A RECORD IS NOW BEING BUILT UP, THE GOVERNOR, SIR EDWARD YOUDE, TOLD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY (WEDNESDAY). IN MAKING HIS ANNUAL HE THEN WENT ON TO OUTLINE THIS RECORD ADDRESS AT THE OPENING OF THE NEW SESSION OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
ON NATIONALITY AND PASSPORTS, SIR EDWARD NOTED THAT THE HONG KONG (BRITISH NATIONALITY) ORDER 1986 PROVIDED THAT PERSONS WHO WERE BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORIES CITIZENS, BY VIRTUE OF A CONNECTION WITH HONG KONG, MIGHT APPLY FOR A BRITISH NATIONAL (OVERSEAS) PASSPORT BEFORE JULY 1, 1997.
→THE NEW PASSPORT WILL BE INTRODUCED FROM JULY 1, 1987 AND HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT HAS ALREADY BEGUN FORMAL APPROACHES TO FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES IN A MAJOR EFFORT TO ENSURE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE NEW STATUS AND THE PASSPORT THAT GOES WITH IT,+ HE SAID.
+FOLLOWING STRONG REPRESENTATIONS BY MEMBERS OF THIS COUNCIL HER MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT HAS AGREED THAT THE NEW PASSPORT WILL STATE THAT ITS HOLDERS DO NOT REQUIRE AN ENTRY CERTIFICATE OR VISA TO VISIT THE UNITED KINGDOM.+
EARLIER THIS YEAR, THE BRITISH AND CHINESE GOVERNMENTS REACHED AGREEMENT THAT THE BN(0) PASSPORT WOULD INCLUDE AN ENDORSEMENT INDICATING THAT THE HOLDER HAD A RIGHT OF ABODE IN HONG KONG. THIS WAS IMPORTANT TO ITS INTERNATIONAL ACCEPTABILITY.
SIR EDWARD SAID THAT NEW TYPES OF IDENTITY CARD, FOR BOTH PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY RESIDENTS, WOULD BE AVAILABLE FROM JULY 1, 1987, AND MIGHT CONTINUE TO BE USED UNTIL THEY WERE REPLACED BY CARDS ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION AFTER 1997.
+ THE NEED FOR IDENTITY CARDS WHICH STATE A RIGHT OF ABODE IN HONG KONG COULD NOT HAVE BEEN FORESEEN WHEN THE PRESENT CARD WAS DESIGNED IN 1981, HE SAID.
+ INDEED THERE WAS NO SUCH CONCEPT IN HONG KONG LAW AT THAT TIME. EVERY EFFORT WILL BE MADE, IN ISSUING NEW CARDS, TO MINIMISE INCONVENIENCE TO HOLDERS.+
THE BRITISH AND CHINESE GOVERNMENTS HAD ALSO AGREED THAT CERTIFICATES OF IDENTITY, ISSUED UP TO 1997, WOULD CONTINUE TO BE VALID FOR 10 YEARS, AND THAT THEY WOULD ALSO BE ENDORSED TO SHOW THAT THE HOLDER HAD A PERMANENT IDENTITY CARD WHICH STATED THAT HE HAD THE RIGHT OF ABODE IN HONG KONG.
'+THESE ARRANGEMENTS
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