CO129-432 - Governor Sir May - 1916 [3-5] — Page 502

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Rea 29 MAY 16!

GOVERNMENT - HOUSE.

HONGKONG. 14th. April, 1916.

435

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt

of your Circular Despatch of the 10th. February relative to the passport regulations in force in this Colony.

2.

It has not been thought expedient to apply strictly to this Colony the provisions of regulation 14 C which were communicated in your Miscellaneous Despatch of the 2nd. Decem- -ber. All persons of Non-Asiatic race who arrive at or pass through Hongkong are required to produce passports except in the case of the officers and crew of Merchant vessels visiting the port for trade. Residents who leave the Colony invariably supply themselves with passports. But it would be quite impracticable to require Chinese coming to and going from Hongkong to have passports; and owing to lack of a Japanese Interpreter I have been unable to apply such a system to Japanese. As regards the case of British subjects, it is considered unadvisable to grmt passports to persons of Chinese race claiming British nationality, for the reasons given in the second paragraph of my Despatch No. 292 of the 24th. August, 1915. For such cases a form of Certificate is used copy of which is

attached. These are issued for limited periods only.

3.

This Government has however instituted a system

whereunder all persons of non-Asiatic race or nationality and all

Indians are closely examined both on entering and on leaving the

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

ANDREW BONAR LAW, M.P..

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Colony