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CONFIDENTIAL
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The Chinese have also agreed in principle that in this context Hong Kong will
mean Hong Kong before 1997, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
after 1997. We expect to reach final agreement on this and other related
matters at the next meeting of the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group in March.
28. The wording of this endorsement is in line with Section XIV of Annex I
to the Joint Declaration. It is a clear and unequivocal statement. The Government
believe it will ensure that BN (0)s will not need to carry their identity cards
with them when they travel, that it will effectively guarantee that BN(0)s
will be able to return to Hong Kong, and that it will therefore be satisfactory
to Immigration Officers in third countries. Certainly the initial reaction
has been encouraging. But the Government will embark on a round of explanations
before the new passport is introduced in 1987 to reduce the possibility of
difficulty for travellers using it. Informal meetings have already begun
and there have been helpful responses from the United States, Australia and
the European Parliament.
29.
Initially the passport is likely to be in the same format as is issued
to all British nationals. But Hon Members will be aware that there is to
be a change in the format of British passports as a consequence of the decision
to give a common format to the national passports of European Community Member
States and our decision that the UK passport should be machine-readable.
My predecessor's statement on 24 July last year
[
Cols 566-7] and the detailed background note which accompanied
it indicated our intention to issue two types of passport; one for those
who are UK nationals for EC purposes and the other for those including BN(0)s
who are not. They will be identical save for the absence from the latter
of EC references on the cover and, on the inside, the absence of other EC
languages, save for French, and certain modifications to the pages which this
permits. The BN(0) revised format passport, therefore, like the proposed
common European Community format will in due course be burgundy red, soft-
covered and of smaller size than the present blue document. On the cover
will be the wording "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland",
the Royal Coat of Arms and "Passport"; the wording on the inside cover will
refer to "Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State". This document will
be produced by computers and will be machine-readable.
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