Kong will still be a British dependent territory before 1 July 1997 and there is a good case for arguing that it is not a third country for the purposes of Article 100c, it might, however, be argued, that in the case of Chinese nationals living in Hong Kong, it is China, not Hong Kong, which is relevant. If China is a third country for the purposes of the visa list, then any Chinese nationals who are resident in Hong Kong will be required to have visas even before 1 July 1997. (I have used China merely as an example; the same could be true of any other State on the visa list whose nationality a Hong Kong resident possesses). This is because nationality, not residence, is the key criterion. Since Hong Kong is not a state and has no nationality of its own, it is necessary to look at the state whose nationality a Hong Kong resident possesses.
After 1 July 1977
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4.
After 1 July 1997 the position becomes clearer although worse. Hong Kong will then be a Special Administrative Region of China and China will clearly be a third country;
it may
well be put on the list of countries whose nationals require visas. Persons resident in Hong Kong with British nationality will, however, still be nationals of a Member State, the UK, although resident in a third country. It may be argued that because Article 100c bites on nationals of non-Member States, even after 1 July 1997 only persons who are Chinese nationals (or persons who are resident in Hong Kong whose countries are also third countries on the visa list) are required to be in possession of a visa. In other words we still have an argument that persons resident in Hong Kong who are UK nationals are not covered by Article 100c, because although Hong Kong will be part of China, a third country, after 1 July 1997, such persons will not be nationals of that country but will remain UK nationals. This argument will, of course, only hold for persons with mono UK nationality and will be stronger in the case of those who are also Community nationals. It is least strong when persons are both UK and Chinese nationals, as most Hong Kong residents will be after 1 July 1997, or hold British and some other nationality. The argument that these people are nationals of a Member State is weakened by their possession of the nationality of a third country.
The External Frontier Convention
5.
This complicated Convention which does not apply to Hong Kong does not use the "third country" definition appearing in Article 100c. It requires visas to be held by persons who are not nationals of Member States. Persons living in Hong Kong before and after 1 July 1997 who are UK nationals are nationals of a Member State of the European Community and will not require visas. I think we are on stronger ground here to resist any discrimination between persons with British nationality who are also Community nationals and those who are
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