According to the letter obtained by Hong Kong’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing has instructed foreign consulate staff in Hong Kong to obtain permission from Chinese authorities 10 days before any business visits to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), which includes Macau and cities in Guangdong province.
An Aug. 1 letter from the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Office said that if foreign consular officials need to carry out official duties “outside the consular jurisdiction within the GBA”, they must obtain “prior consent”.
To obtain consent, the letter said, the consulate must send a letter to Chinese authorities outlining the reason for the trip, the parties involved, the time and location of the trip, and the “departments” the foreign official plans to visit.
People familiar with the matter at Hong Kong’s three consulates confirmed the letter to the HKFP and said it was a new measure aimed at regulating consular activities.
A senior local consulate official, Mundy, who gave only an assumed name, told HKFP that foreign consulate staff can currently enter Macau with a diplomatic passport or consular identity card issued by the Hong Kong government.
“Many of Hong Kong’s consulates also have jurisdiction over Macau, so we need to go to Macau from time to time. We also visit Shenzhen, Guangzhou or other cities in Guangdong province to attend events such as opening ceremonies or to visit businessmen from the consulate’s countries,” she said. “Like other foreigners, consulate staff need to apply for a Chinese work visa, which takes several days.”
HKFP contacted the Hong Kong Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China for comment, but multiple emails and phone calls went unanswered. HKFP also contacted the Protocol Department and the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Office, but a spokesperson referred HKFP to the Hong Kong Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
Mundy said the new measures have raised concerns about whether and why applications to visit Macau or Guangdong province may be rejected by Chinese authorities. “Furthermore, we are being asked to share our travel details, but we don’t know if the people in those destinations are comfortable with revealing their identities to Chinese authorities,” Mundy added.
The letter cites the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, highlighting Article 6: “Consular officers may, in special circumstances and with the consent of the receiving State, exercise their functions outside the consular district.”
The letter stipulates that applications should be submitted to the Foreign Affairs Office of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government or the Chinese Foreign Ministry Office in Macau.
Request for local staff data
Last September, China’s Foreign Ministry office instructed all consulates in Hong Kong to provide the job titles, addresses and identity card details of all staff employed in Hong Kong.
The letter, reported exclusively by HKFP, was sent by the Hong Kong government at the request of the Commissioner’s Office and ordered each delegation to submit their details in the attached form by October 18, 2023.
The form collected the names, job titles, employment start dates, residential addresses, permanent residence status, identity card numbers or passport, nationality, visa details of locally employed staff, and requested copies of identity documents.
Mundy said that to his understanding, not all foreign consulates in Hong Kong had complied with the request.
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