Passports to confusion

IMAGINE a Hong Kong Chinese on a tour in North America in the year 2000, with a Special Administrative Region (SAR) passport tucked in one pocket and a British National Overseas (BNO) passport in another. Which passport should the person use when he or she tries to enter, say, Canada? Judging from the frantic efforts by the Hong Kong Government to encourage eligible Hong Kong people to obtain a BNO passport before 1997 and the fact that BNO passport holders are currently not required to obtain a visa to visit Canada, it is logical to expect the Hong Konger to use his or her BNO passport. This is especially so because Chinese passport holders are required to obtain visas to visit Canada and the SAR passport is a kind of Chinese passport. But there are reasons to suggest the BNO passport's supposed 'supremacy' over the SAR passport cannot be taken for granted. Canadian immigration officials may likely frown on seeing the BNO passport, in which case the Hong Kong person will have to unveil his real identity as a Chinese national by flashing his SAR passport, according to the educated guess of a lawyer, William Clarke. Mr Clarke used to teach at the University of Hong Kong and has written a number of articles on Hong Kong's immigration laws. 'So long as Britain exercises sovereignty over Hong Kong, there is a perception that British travel documents provide greater freedom of travel. 'This will likely disappear after 1997,' he said. 'The international community will begin to view with a degree of suspicion the BNO passport issued by a government which no longer guarantees the return of its holder to any territory under its control. 'Already some countries refuse to recognise British passports which carry no right of abode in any British territory. 'The curious British Overseas Citizen (BOC) passport is not recognised by countries such as Canada, for there is no guarantee holders can return as of right to the place where they came.' Whether the BNO passport, which was treated with suspicion by foreign governments when it was launched a few years ago, will be treated by foreign immigration authorities as another BOC passport after 1997 remains to be seen. Should the BNO passport lose its validity in the eyes of foreign governments, Hong Kong Chinese will have to rely on the SAR passport. Although there is uncertainty now as to whether foreign governments will allow SAR passport holders visa-free visiting rights, Mr Clarke believes 'it is only a question of time that the SAR passport will come to life'. Much will depend on the Chinese Government's efforts to promote it and foreign governments' recognition of Hong Kong people as a distinct group of Chinese unlikely to breach conditions of stay. Since Beijing formally released an SAR passport sample earlier this week, the reaction of foreign consulates in Hong Kong has been reserved. An unspoken worry is whether they will be issued strictly to Hong Kong residents only and not be available to mainland Chinese who pose a greater immigration risk. In this respect, China is right to say Britain has the responsibility to take the lead in granting visa-free entry to SAR passport holders after 1997 to demonstrate its confidence in Hong Kong's future to other governments. In Mr Clarke's view, there is no reason why Britain should not allow SAR passport holders visa-free visits to the country. At present, holders of a BNO passport, issued to those born in Hong Kong and to naturalised Hong Kong British nationals, do not have to obtain a visa to visit Britain. Holders of the Certificate of Identity (CI), born in China, must get one. Mr Clarke said the discriminatory treatment of CI holders was a legacy of the time when this group of Hong Kong residents did not enjoy unqualified right of abode in Hong Kong. But after the Immigration Ordinance was amended in 1987, BNO passport and CI holders enjoyed equally the right of abode in Hong Kong, with the unqualified right to return. 'Thus the basis for the differing visa status of the two groups has disappeared.' 'It would be entirely appropriate for the UK and Hong Kong Governments to do all within their power to negotiate visa-free entry for all Hong Kong permanent residents regardless of the travel document held,' said Mr Clarke. 'This should apply to entry of Hong Kong permanent residents to all countries, not just the UK.' After 1997, CI holders and BNO holders who are Chinese will be eligible for an SAR passport. 'There is no reason in principle or in law why the UK cannot now agree to China's request for visa-free entry for visitors holding the post-1997 passport, and it should do so,' said Mr Clarke. 'Indeed, the UK should join together with Beijing in promoting the SAR passport for Hong Kong visitors worldwide. 'Such a move could only promote the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong to which the UK government purports to be committed.'