OFFICIALS yesterday promised to press Britain to take the lead in offering visa-free privileges to holders of the future Special Administrative Region (SAR) passport.
'As the existing British National (Overseas) Passport holders enjoy visa-free privileges [from Britain], I cannot see why SAR passport holders can't,' Secretary for Security Peter Lai Hing-ling told members of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB).
China has been asking Britain to take the initiative in providing SAR passport holders with visa-free privileges in a bid to encourage other countries to do the same.
No response had yet been given by Britain, although the issue was raised in the last Joint Liaison Group meeting in London.
DAB vice-chairman Tam Yiu-chung said another message he got from Mr Lai was that the Government was willing to help handle applications for SAR passports before 1997.
Mr Lai agreed procedures had to begin before 1997 if the passports were to be ready for issue immediately after the handover.