TNAG-1349-FCO40-1790-Chinese-visa-office-in-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 2

Subject to the approval of Ministers agreement has also been reached

on the text of the UK/China Consular Agreement. It has been suggested to the Chinese that it might be possible for the Secretary of State to sign the UK/China Consular Agreement during his forthcoming visit to Peking. Because of the link which the Chinese have established between the two issues, this would require agreement to be reached on the exchange of notes about the Visa Office, which in turn would require the Embassy to negotiate some detailed amendments to the text of the latter. (A copy of the latest Chinese draft, incorporating the amendments which the Embassy are instructed to secure, is at Annex A). An indication from Hong Kong that we will not insist that passports issued by the Visa Office should be submitted by them direct to Immigration Department is also required for final agreement to be reached. On this see paragraphs 5 to 7 below.

Replacement passports

5

In discussion on 16 and 29 March of Memoranda XCCI (83)16 and XCC (83) 19 Members considered the separate question of arrangements for monitoring replacement passports which the Visa Office are to be allowed to issue in certain circumstances. Members advised that the Visa Office should

notify to Immigration Department details of all passports issued when the new arrangements came into force. In pursuit of this objective, a proposal was made both to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Peking and to the Visa Office by the Director of Immigration to secure a suitable arrangement. Since the Visa Office is to be resticted to issuing replacement passports to holders of PRC passports which are lost, stolen, full or expired, any replacement passports would in any case have to be submitted to Immigration Department for remewal of endorsement, without which the holder sould be unable to leave Hong Kong. It was proposed therefore that the Visa Office should itself submit all such passports to Immigration Department for renewal of endorsement before issuing to the applicants. This would have enabled the Immigration Department to keep a record of all replacement passports issued while minimising the risk that the holders of such passports would encounter difficulties on departure.

6

Both the MFA in Peking and the Visa Office in Hong Kong declined to agree to such an arrangement. Their principal objection appears to be that no similar requirement is imposed on any other passport issuing post in Hong Kong (which is true). Both the MFA and the Visa Office have said that the new passport holders would be advised to apply immediately to Immigration Department for renewal of endorsement; if they failed to do So and got into difficulties as a result this would be their fault.

機密

CONFIDENTIAL ##