16. The negotiations had to be conducted on a basis of confidentiality. This was crucial to their success, but the maintenance of confidentiality also caused much concern and anxiety among the people of Hong Kong who were understandably anxious to know what was being negotiated for their future. All members of the Executive Council, as the Governor's closest advisers, wer kept fully informed on the negotiations and consulted on a continuing basis throughout the period. The Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils (UMELCO) provided invaluable advice to the Governor and to Ministers on the course of the negotiations and on the attitude of the people of Hong Kong.
17. At a number of crucial points in the negotiations the Governor and Unofficial Members of the Executive Council visited London for consultations with the Prime Minister and other Ministers. British Ministers also paid a series of visits to Hong Kong, to consult the Governor, the Executive Council and the Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils and to keep in touch with opinion in the territory. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs was able to describe the approach of Her Majesty's Government to the negotiations in his statement in Hong Kong on 20 April 1984, and to fill in more details of what might eventually be included in an agreement in a further statement in the territory on 1 August 1984. In the course of the negotiations, and in particular since the statement of 20 April, numerous individuals and groups in Hong Kong have made specific proposals on what should be included in an eventual agreement. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong has debated aspects of the future of the territory on a number of occasions. Her Majesty's Government have paid close attention to these expressions of opinion which the Hong Kong Govern- ment have relayed to Ministers, and to views about the future expressed through a variety of channels-by and through UMELCO, through the press, through individual communications addressed to Her Majesty's Government or the Hong Kong Government. In this way Her Majesty's Government have sought to take into account the views of the people of Hong Kong to the maximum extent possible during the negotiations.
18. In the same way the maintenance of confidentiality has made the task of consulting Parliament on the negotiations more difficult. Despite this there were debates on Hong Kong in October and November 1983 and in May 1984, and part of the Foreign Affairs Debate in March 1984 was also devoted to Hong Kong. Members of Parliament have kept in close touch with the people of Hong Kong, both through visits to the territory and through meetings with Hong Kong delegations visiting the United Kingdom.
Introduction to the Agreement
19. The full text of the draft agreement is included in the second part of this White Paper.
It consists of a Joint Declaration and three Annexes. The whole makes up a Each part of the agreement has the same status. formal international agreement, legally binding in all its parts. An inter- national agreement of this kind is the highest form of commitment between two sovereign states.
20. The Joint Declaration consists in part of linked declarations by Her Majesty's Government and the Chinese Government. In paragraph 1 the
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