TNAG-2953-FCO40-4230-Hong-Kong-European-Community-visa-regime-for-British-Nationa-1993 — Page 24

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Immigration and lory attached Nationality Department

Lunar House 40 Wellesley Road Croydon CR9 2BY

Telephone 081-760

(GTN 3822)

PF Ricketts Esq

Hong Kong Department

Foreign and Commonwealth Office LONDON, SW1a 2ah

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Your reference

Our reference

(21) Probaklys

MBS BJ

Mr. Marn's 249

Mi 3-5. Final para: justified?

Date 24 September 1993

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29 SEP 1993

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Dear Peter,

SAPTELE (

EC VISA POLICY AND HONG KONG

Thank you for your letter of 16 November with some points to make on visa policy and Hong Kong, if the matter was raised at the meeting of the Ad Hoc Group on immigration earlier this week.

This was helpful, and we shall deploy it as opportunities arise. In the event no-one mentioned Hong Kong or China at the meeting and, as the business was concluded in one day there was not much opportunity for lobbying in the margins.

The most important point to get across, it seems to me, is that there is absolutely no linkage between the recent upsurge of illegal Chinese immigrants and the question of imposing a visa requirement on Hong Kong BDTCS/BN (0)s.

I am more nervous about lobbying the Schengen states that do not have a visa requirement for Hong Kong, in case this is counter- productive. I do not begin to understand the Spanish arguments. I suspect that it is at least disingenuous and possibly a total fabrication, to argue that their imposition of a visa regime on Hong Kong is in some sense a Schengen requirement. However that may be, if they have decided to do it nothing will stop them.

The danger with lobbying the others is that it may only bring to their attention the problem that they were not aware existed. Ian Lewty raised the matter with one of the countries concerned (I forget which) who assured him that they had no intention of imposing a visa requirement because they knew that BDTCS/BN(0)s were returnable to

to the United Kingdom! Ian had to gently disabuse them of that misconception. I think that we need to take stock when we have had a chance to analyse the relevant provisions of the Schengen manual, of which we are promised an English translation shortly.

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