TNAG-1281-FCO40-1632-Chinese-visa-office-in-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 125

CODE 18-77

Referend KK 349%,

RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

- 7 JUL 1983

DESK OFFICER

INDEX

PA

REGISTRY

Action Taken

50

Miss Walker (HKD)

(45

CHINESE VISA OFFICE IN HONG KONG

and

NIT

1. Please refer to Mr Mathers' minute of 21 June, Mr Burrows' minute of 22 June, Mr Glover's minute of 27 June, to our various conversations and to the clean draft of the Memorandum which you kindly sent me. To avoid confusion, my comments below are with reference to the clean draft of the Memorandum.

2.

My comments on paragraph 2 of the Memorandum are as follows:-

(1) As regards documents and archives, this reflects

VCCR Article 33, and as regards premises it reflects Article 3(1) of the proposed UK/China Consular Agreement. Accordingly no problem, I think.

(2) Like Messrs Mathers and Burrows, I do not like

"estates". (Would it cover a holiday cottage owned by the Visa Office and used purely for recreational purposes?) Let us suggest "premises", which then conforms to VCCR Article 32(1).

(3) This goes beyond VCCR Article 41, as Mr Mathers says,

but it does reflect the sort of provision which we were seeking in the UK/China Consular Agreement. I, therefore, agree entirely with Mr Glover's

comments.

(4) I agree with Mr Glover that we do not need to

modify the draft Memorandum in order to match those of the draft UK/China Consular Agreement. Again, no problem, I think.

}

(5) My first comment here is that we suddenly change

from speaking of "officers" to speaking of "officials"; let us be consistent and use the former. As regards "staff members" I am not clear whether these are persons employed on administrative or technical duties in the Visa Office; in other words persons whom in terms of the VCCR we would call "consular employees"; or whether the term also includes persons employed in the domestic service of the Visa Office; in other words, persons whom in terms of the VCCR we would call "service staff". In either case, this provision goes slightly beyond that of VCCR Articles 50(1)(b) and 50(2), in that the latter paragraph is restricted to consular employees only and merely grants an exemption from customs duties "in respect of articles imported at the time of first installation" However, under UK law we have power to give the privilege of continuing exemption from customs duties to both consular employees and service staff by virtue of paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the Consular Relations Act 1968. (I would guess the Hong Kong Ordinance is to like effect.) Thus, subject

/to