CONFIDENT TAL
China
But he did not mean that Hong Kong was not important to China. would let people know her entire plan for Hong Kong in due course. In answer to a question, Liao rejected the suggestion that Hong Kong should be placed under continued British administration, but added that Hong Kong's legal system would be basically unchanged. The Chinese constitution would be revised to incorporate an article providing_for the establishment of a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The formula 'Hong Kong people running Hong Kong' could refer to both Chinese people and foreigners in Hong Kong. It would be a very long time before Hong Kong's capitalist system was integrated into China, 'perhaps a century or two'. The future rulers of Hong Kong would definitely not be appointed from the mainland but would be chosen from among Hong Kong people. The land ownership system in Hong Kong would not be changed after China regained her sovereignty. The ownership of property would be a matter for Hong Kong law.
d. In his report on the new State Constitution delivered to the National People's Congress on 26 November, Peng Zhen cited Article 31 providing for the establishment of Special Administrative Regions and added:
"We are absolutely unequivocal on the principle of safeguarding China's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. At the same time we are highly flexible as regards specific policies and measures and will give full consideration to the concrete situation in the Taiwan region and the wishes of the people in Taiwan and those of all personages concerned. This is our basic position in handling problems of a similar kind".
(Unlike the Party Constitution neither the State Constitution nor Peng Zhen's report on it included specific references to Hong Kong.)
December 1982
a. Zhao Ziyang told a group of Hong Kong visitors on 9 December that China must take Hong Kong back by 1997, but would not recover Hong Kong before then.
b. The Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao English Supplement on 9 December commented that a careful reading of the text of Article 31 of the Chinese Constitution showed that the National People's Congress was only called upon to enact or give lasting legal authority to whatever final settlements would be reached on maintaining the present systems in special administrative regions rather than to enact a whole set of statutes for such regions as had been suggested by some observers in Hong Kong.
C.
The new Constitution of the Chinese People's Political Consulta- tive Conference adopted on 11 December included references to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao compatriots as well as overseas Chinese as forming part of the 'broad patriotic united front' and to their support for reunification; it also referred to their participation in the National Committee of the Consultative Conference.
4 CONFIDENTIAL
/a.