TNAG-1029-FCO40-1279-Visits-by-FCO-officials-to-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 65

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CONFIDENTIAL

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NFIDENTIAL

FM HONG KONG 020405Z MAY 81

TO PRIORITY F C O

TELEGRAM NUMBER 468 OF 02 MAY

HKIL 15,345/4

нки

N NO RUN

RECEIVED 17 / NO. 51

INFO PRIORITY PEKING ROUTINE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON

INDEX

PEKING TELNO 25 TO ME AND 274 TO FCO AND MY TELTO~109′′ TO PEKING: HONG KONG TRANSIT VISAS ETC.

- 5 MAY 1981

ACER

-()

WE HAVE EXAMINED CAREFULLY HUANG HUA AND KE HUA'S COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE TREATMENT OF CHINESE NATIONALS TRANSITTING HONG KONG, TO SEE WHETHER THERE ARE ANY POINTS WHERE WE CAN REASONABLY MEET THE CHINESE IN ORDER TO DEFUSE WHAT LOOKS LIKE BECOMING AN EMOTIONAL ISSUE.

2. THE FOLLOWING ARE OUR CONCLUSIONS

(1) MALTREATMENT. WE ARE STILL AT A LOSS TO KNOW PRECISELY WHAT THE CHINESE ARE REFERRING TO. THE POSITION IS AS IN PARA 3(B) OF MY TELNO 109. WE HAVE NO EVIDENCE THAT 'MALTREATMENT?' SHOULD LEGITIMATELY STILL BE AN ISSUE. KE HUA ALSO SPOKE EMOTIONALLY ON THE SUBJECT TO STEEL AND LORD TANLAW. HE APPARENTLY COMPLAINED ABOUT TREATMENT BY BRITISH OFFICERS. SO FAR AS WE CAN DISCOVER ALL EXAMINATIONS OF DOUBTFUL CASES HAVE BEEN CARRIED OUT BY LOCAL OFFICERS FROM IMMIGRATION

AND THE POLICE. SO THIS COMPLAINT TOO IS PUZZLING. WE SUGGEST THE EMBASSY SHOULD DRAW ON PARAS 2 AND 3(B) OF MY TELNO 189 AND SAY THAT WE HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO DISCOVER ANY CAUSE FOR THE

CHINESE COMPLAINTS. THEY MIGHT ADD THAT GENERALISED COMPLAINTS ARE UNHELPFUL IN DEALING WITH REAL PROBLEMS IF THEY EXIST. WE ARE PREPARED TO EXAMINE ANY SPECIFIC INSTANCES WHICH THE CHINESE BRING TO OUR ATTENTION.

(II) TRANSIT. SINCE THE CHANGE OF POLICY ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

LAST OCTOBER ARRANGEMENTS FOR TRANSIT HAVE GONE MORE SMOOTHLY. WE ARE PREPARED, AS AN EXPERIMENT, TO RELAX THE EXISTING RULES SO THAT HOLDERS OF CHINESE PASSPORTS (WHETHER COMING FROM CHINA OR ELSEWHERE) WITH VALID DOCUMENTS AND MEANS FOR CONTINUING ELSEWHERE WILL NORMALLY BE GIVEN SEVEN DAYS TRANSIT AND WILL BE ABLE TO EXTEND UP TO ONE MONTH PROVIDING

THEY HAVE LEGITIMATE GROUNDS. THIS CONCESSION COULD ONLY

BE MADE ON THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS: AND WILL NOT BE IMPLEMENTED

UNTIL WE HAVE CONFIRMATION OF CHINESE AGREEMENT TO THEM:

(A) THOSE ARRIVING FROM CHINA WITHOUT VISAS FOR HONG KONG

WILL BE PROCESSED, AS NOW, AT LOWU. THIS IS FOR PRACTICAL

REASONS. PROCESSING ELSEWHERE WOULD DELAY OTHER PASSENGERS:

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See also

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CONFIDENTAL