international support and on the practical arrangements made in the various
areas covered. The people of Hong Kong need to have confidence in their own
future, in the continuity of their style of life and in the territory's
economic prospects. A crucial element in this is continuing freedom to travel
for business and recreation. The assurance I sought above on Swedish
acceptance of the new passports is part of this wider process and could be
beneficial to confidence and the continuing success of the Hong Kong
Agreement. There have already been some helpful reactions for example Vice
President Bush affirmed in October 1985 that "the US Government will recognise
the proposed BN (0) passport". In December 1985 the Australian Commission in
Hong Kong said that the new BN (0) passport "appeared to be acceptable from the
Australian viewpoint and not to present any problems". In April 1986 the
Japanese Consul-General in Hong Kong said that "the Japanese Government, for
its part, is fully prepared to extend all possible cooperation in the efforts
to
gain wide acceptability of (Hong Kong's) new passports by the world
community". It would be particularly welcome to Her Majesty's Government if
some similar authoritative statement could be made of the Swedish view.
While I am speaking of these matters, I should like to raise a separate but
related point. The Swedish authorities have, with their Nordic colleagues,
been looking at the possibility of abolishing the visa requirement for Hong
Kong BDTCs. Your Department has full details. The new BN (0) arrangements
make no difference to the arguments in favour of visa abolition. It would have
a significant impact in terms of the wider process of maintaining confidence
to which I have referred. We are grateful for Sweden's efforts in the past on
visa abolition and hope that these will be maintained. My Government trusts
that early agreement can be reached.
British Embassy, Stockholm
15 October 1986
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