CONFIDENTIAL
168
044455
MDLIAN 1761
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO PRIORITY FCO
TELNO 2465
OF 090352Z AUGUST 90
HKC340
- 9 AUG 1990
TRY
REGISTRY
Action Taken
INFO PRIORITY UKRER JLG HONG KONG, PEKING
167
YRTELNO 1475: NATIONALITY ACT: CHINESE ATTITUDE
TOP COPY Q DIST?
Deeliba
1. WE ARE FAXING TO MAJOR COPIES OF ARTICLES APPEARING IN TA KUNG PAO AND WEN WEI PO ON 2 AUGUST, WHICH MAKE REFERENCE TO THE FUTURE USE OF IDENTITY CARDS AS TRAVEL DOCUMENTS. YOU WILL NOTE THAT WEN WEI PO ARTICLE SAYS THAT HONG KONG RESIDENTS MAY CONTINUE TO USE IDENTITY CARDS AS TRAVEL DOCUMENTS. THE TA KUNG PAO ARTICLE, TO WHICH YOU HAVE REFERRED, SEEMS AMBIGUOUS BUT HAS BEEN INTERPRETED BY THE HONG KONG STANDARD AND OTHERS AS IMPLYING THAT IDENTITY CARDS MAY NO LONGER BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.
2. THE TA KUNG PAO ARTICLE HAS NOT AROUSED MUCH INTEREST LOCALLY, PROBABLY BECAUSE OF ITS AMBIGUITY AND THE FACT THAT IT DOES NOT QUOTE AUTHORITATIVE SOURCES.
3. OUR ASSESSMENT IS THAT THESE ARTICLES PROBABLE REPRESENT THE SPECULATIVE VIEWS OF THE WRITERS AND ARE NOT OFFICIALLY SANCTIONED.
4. WE HAVE CONSIDERED THE NEED TO FORESTALL COMMENTS BY CHINESE OFFICIALS ON THE VALIDITY OF IDENTITY CARDS AS TRAVEL DOCUMENTS (WHICH WOULD ADD TO LOCAL ANXIETIES) BY CONVEYING OUR CONCERNS TO THE CHINESE SIDE AT THE NEXT WEEKLY JLG MEETING. HOWEVER SINCE THE AMBIGUITY OF THE ARTICLES SEEM TO INDICATE THAT NO OFFICIAL LINE HAS YET BEEN TAKEN BY THE CHINESE ON THIS ISSUE, IT SEEMS UNLIKELY THAT THEIR OFFICIALS WOULD MAKE OFF-THE-CUFF REMARKS. IT WOULD THEREFORE BE WISE FOR US NOT TO PAINT THEM INTO A CORNER BY RAISING THE MATTER AT THIS STAGE. WE WILL, HOWEVER, WATCH THE SITUATION CAREFULLY AND AT THE FIRST SIGN OF AN UNHELPFUL OFFICIAL LINE BEING DEVELOPED, PROMPTLY TAKE THE MATTER UP THROUGH THE JLG CHANNEL.
FORD
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