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CHAPTER 2 GENERAL PUBLIC RESPONSE
Publication of the White Paper
2.1 The draft agreement on the future of Hong Kong was initialled in Beijing by the leaders of the British and Chinese delegations on 26 September 1984 and published in the form of a White Paper on the same day.
2.2 Paragraph 29 of the Introduction in the White Paper states that "Her Majesty's Government have a duty to make clear beyond any possibility of misunderstanding the alternative to acceptance of the agreement set out in this White Paper. In their view, there is no possibility of an amended agreement. The alternative to acceptance of the present agreement is to have no agreement. In this case the Chinese Government has made it plain that negotiations could not be reopened and that it would publish its own plan for Hong Kong. There is no guarantee that such a unilateral plan would include all the elements included in the draft agreement, nor would it have the same status as a legally binding agreement between the two countries.”
2.3 Paragraphs 32 and 33 of the Introduction state that the Assessment Office would be providing an analysis and assessment of opinion in Hong Kong and conveyed an invitation to the people of Hong Kong to comment on the overall acceptability of the draft agreement against the background set out in the White Paper.
2.4 The draft agreement consists of:-
A Joint Declaration, in which the United Kingdom declares that it will restore Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997, and the Chinese Government declares its basic policies towards Hong Kong; Annex I in which the Chinese Government elaborates on its basic policies for Hong Kong in fourteen sections;
Annex II which sets out the provisions concerning the establishment of a Sino-British Joint Liaison Group up to the year 2000;
Annex III which deals with land leases and arrangements for the establishment of a Land Commission.
There is also an associated Exchange of Memoranda on the status of people who are now British Dependent Territories citizens (BDTCs) after 1997, and related issues.
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The Hong Kong Government's Publicity
2.5 On the evening of 26 September 1984, the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Edward Youde, delivered a statement on the draft agreement in the Legislative Council. His statement included an appeal to the community to read the White Paper and to come forward with their views. Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) carried the Governor's speech to the Legisla- tive Council live; and later on that evening, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs' press conference in New York was covered in full via satellite. The Governor's special press conference on 27 September was also broadcast live in full.
2.6 The Hong Kong Government published a total of 2.7 million copies of the White Paper (1 million in English and 1.7 million in Chinese).
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