TNAG-2161-FCO40-3083-Hong-Kong-visa-abolition-agreements-1990 — Page 23

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VISA ABOLITION AGREEMENT! UK/AUSTRIA – HONG KỎNG

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1. You will have seen Hong Kong telno 3707 about the above.

2.

We really cannot proceed on this basis if Hong Kong continues to believe that we can once again fudge the issue over BDTCs. We are not reasonably confident of succeeding and the Austrian Minister made it clear to me that he simply did not know how Vienna would react. Indeed you may know that the Austrians are increasingly worried about immigration, admittedly mainly from Eastern Europe, so no doubt they will look carefully at any revision of our Visa Abolition Agreement.

3.

If the Austrians are not prepared to pursue option B how on earth can we ensure that Hong Kong BDTCs would continue to enjoy visa free access to Austria? As you know the present position resulted largely from erroneous verbal assurances given to the Austrians some years ago about the returnability of BTDCs. We had hoped that the Austrians would maintain the status quo by turning a blind eye to the true position over BDTCs as well as BMOS and indeed they arguably stand to loøse more should the result of all this be that Austrians need visas to enter Hong Kong. But the Austrians forced the pace repeatedly asking for confirmation of the position of BTDCS and BNOS (see their note of 13 July 1990). We had no option but to come clean.

4.

Grateful if you could consider the position in the light of Hong Kong's reply. If the Austrians take a tough line we really cannot allow Hong Kong to come back at us quoting their telegram as a yardstick for what they are prepared to accept as their bottom line.

14 December 1990

LS7ABD

2 Aplening

L Stephenson

(MVD CL 418 270 4045)

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