TNAG-1372-FCO40-1818-Ministerial-visits-from-the-UK-to-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 75

BACKGROUND

CONFIDENTIAL

1.

like other dependent territories, a

After 1997 it will not of course be able

Annex I Section VIII of the Joint

Administrative

Hong Kong is at present,

British port of registry.

to retain this status.

Declaration

provides that "The Hong Kong Special

Region shall be authorised by the Central People's People's

continue to maintain a

shipping register and

Government to

issue related

certificates under its own legislation in the name of "Hong Kong,

China". " In order to

Government propose to

register well

before

ensure a smooth transition the Hong Kong

introduce a separate and autonomous Hong Kong

1997. They attach great importance to this both for political reasons (a viable register will help maintain confidence in Hong Kong and further enhance its autonomy after 1997) and commercial ones (the 820 ships currently on the Hong Kong register (gross tonnage 6.4 million) represent only a small part of

the beneficially-owned Hong Kong fleet of

of about

about 55 million tons,

which constitutes about 10% of the world's merchant fleet.

The Hong

s ome of Kong Government hope that the new register will attract back

the Hong Kong owned ships which are currently registered under flags

of convenience).

2.

consultative a

In May 1985, after preliminary discussions with Department of Transport officials and other interested parties, the Hong Kong

Government published

document containing detailed

proposals

for such

a

register.

The principal

features

of

the

register would be that:

(a) its standards and obligations should be set out in local

legislation;

(b)

it should not be, nor be regarded as, a flag of convenience;

(c) it should operate to international standards;

(d) it should have a distinctive flag;

(e) it should be self-financing;

CONFIDENTIAL

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