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FUTURE OF HONG KONG : ARRANGEMENTS FOR TESTING THE ACCEPTABILITY IN
HONG KONG OF AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CHINESE
INTRODUCTION
1. At the meeting of OD(K) on 23 May, Ministers endorsed the
general approach on testing the acceptability of an agreement in
Hong Kong outlined in a paper submitted by the Foreign and
Commonwealth Secretary. This envisaged that a period of public
debate in representative and semi-representative bodies in Hong Kong, as well as at grassroots level, would be stimulated by an
invitation to the public to express their views on a draft
agreement, and that this would be combined with a more general,
passive sounding of public opinion. The Foreign and Commonwealth
Secretary was invited to put forward detailed proposals on these
lines.
2.
This paper is concerned with the mechanics of such arrangements.
It does not seek to discuss the circumstances which would arise if
there were a difference of view between HMG and the Executive
Council in Hong Kong on whether a a draft agreement should be
commended to Hong Kong for acceptance. Once HMG had decided to go
ahead with the test, the mechanics would remain substantially the
same no matter what degree of support EXCO was prepared to give. It
must however be recognised that if the EXCO Unofficials declined to
endorse a draft agreement the chances of securing a generally
favourable reception from the population as a whole would be much
reduced. It will therefore be important to maintain close
consultation with EXCO throughout the next few months and in
particular to hold thorough discussion with them on the contents of
the agreement before the text is initialled. As part of this
process there might well need to be
to be a further visit by the
Unofficials to London for discussion with Ministers. The aim would
be to obtain from them a clear indication of the attitude they would
adopt after publication of the agreement, and if possible to persuade them to work actively for its acceptance.
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