CONFIDENTIAL
131372 MDHIAN 5278
FAMILY REASONS.
16.
IN ADDITION, HONG KONG PLAYS A VITAL ROLE AS A GATEWAY BETWEEN CHINA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. LAST YEAR 670,000 OVERSEAS VISITORS TO CHINA TRAVELLED THROUGH HONG KONG. TRAVEL BETWEEN HONG KONG AND THE MAINLAND HAS RECENTLY BEEN MADE EASIER BY BETTER FACILITIES AT THE BORDER AND SIMPLIFIED IMMIGRATION PROCEDURES.
FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS ARE BEING PLANNED.
TRANSPORT LINKS WITH CHINA
52. PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT AT THE PRESENT TIME ARE THE IMPROVEMENTS BEING MADE TO EASE THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE AND GOODS TO AND FROM CHINA. ROAD CROSSING FACILITIES WILL SOON BE SUBSTANTIALLY IMPROVED BY THE LOK MA CHAU CROSSING AT THE WESTERN END OF THE BORDER: THIS WILL LINK DIRECTLY INTO THE NEW TERRITORIES CIRCULAR ROAD. STAGE I OF THE CROSSING WILL BE FINISHED AT THE END OF 1988 AND THE SECOND
SPAN OF THE BRIDGE IN LATE 1989. THERE WILL THEN BE A TOTAL CAPACITY AT ALL BORDER ROAD CROSSINGS OF ABOUT 50,000 VEHICLES PER DAY. THIS COMPARES WITH SOME 9,000 CROSSINGS PER DAY AT PRESENT.
53. FOR SEA PASSENGERS, THE NEW CHINA FERRY TERMINAL IN CANTON ROAD
WILL OPEN IN MID-1988 AND WILL HAVE SUFFICIENT CAPACITY TO MEET
DEMAND INTO THE NEXT CENTURY.
54.
CONDITIONS FOR CROSS BORDER RAIL PASSENGERS WERE IMPROVED SUBSTANTIALLY WHEN THE NEW TERMINAL BUILDING AT LO WU WAS OPENED EARLY THIS YEAR. A FURTHER EXTENSION IS NOW BEING PLANNED TO COPE WITH ANTICIPATED FUTURE GROWTH IN TRAFFIC. IT SHOULD BE COMPLETED ABOUT FOUR YEARS' TIME. OUR ABILITY TO HANDLE THE INCREASING VOLUME OF FREIGHT COMING FROM CHINA BY RAIL WILL ALSO BE MUCH IMPROVED BY THE PLANNED EXPANSION OF THE KCRC FREIGHT YARD IN HUNG
HOM BAY.
PASSPORTS AND TRAVEL DOCUMENTS
931.
IN THIS CONNECTION CONSIDERABLE CONCERN HAS BEEN EXPRESSED RECENTLY ABOUT WHETHER THERE WILL BE PROBLEMS IN USING THE NEW BRITISH NATIONAL (OVERSEAS) (BN(0)) PASSPORT.
IN
132. BRITISH NATIONAL (OVERSEAS) STATUS, AND THE PASSPORT THAT GOES WITH IT, WERE INTRODUCED ON 1 JULY.THOSE WHO ARE ENTITLED TO THIS FORM OF PASSPORT WILL CONTINUE TO BE ABLE TO USE IT AFTER 1997, WHEREAS THE HONG KONG BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORY CITIZEN (BDTC)
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