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the consultation exercise was widely understood.
COULD NOT PUBLIC CONCERN ABOUT CONFIDENTIALITY HAVE BEEN AVOIDED?
(MONITORS' REPORT PARAGRAPH 18)
174. In our view to have ensured that submissions to the Assessment
Office were removed to London and kept under all the safeguards that
apply to public records would in practice have given a very high
degree of protection to their authors. However as soon as it was
recognised that fears in Hong Kong had not been allayed we responded
to this concern with the decision that submissions should be
destroyed. We note the conclusion of the monitors that "we do not
believe that there is any evidence to show that the confidentiality factor had a damaging effect on the assessment task as a whole".
THE PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY SHOWS THAT 77 PER CENT OF PEOPLE THOUGHT
THE PACT NOT VERY GOOD
175. Not accurate description of survey findings. Figure of 77%
indicated those who agreed "a lot" or "a little" with the statement
that "it
is not a very good agreement, but the best that could be expected under the circumstances". 81% thought the agreement either very good or quite good for the people of Hong Kong.
SHOULD NOT THE ASSESSMENT OFFICE HAVE TAKEN A MORE ACTIVE ROLE IN
SEEKING TO GATHER PUBLIC OPINION?
176. The Government in Hong Kong took an active role in disseminating and explaining the agreement, in urging the public to express its views, and in forwarding to the Assessment Office views received by District Offices from organisations and individuals. The Assessment Office collated and assessed these views.
WHAT STEPS WILL THE GOVERNMENT TAKE TO ENSURE THAT THE POINTS OF
DETAIL RAISED IN THE ASSESSMENT OFFICE REPORT ARE SATISFACTORILY
RESOLVED?
177. The Government will of course take all these points into consideration in their further discussions with the Chinese, particularly on the Joint Liaison Group.
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