CONFIDENTIAL
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11
whatever the practical implications of the issue, the
disquiet ventilated in the Legislative Council and elsewhere
in Hong Kong may have weakened public confidence in the
assessment task at a time when it was already exposed
to critical comment.
18.
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; but we also
take the view that the public concern about confidentiality
could have been avoided, and that the assurances and safeguards announced in mid-October should have been publicly conveyed
at an earlier stage through the Assessment Office advertisement
and in other ways.
19.
To judge how accurately the Assessment Office
discharged its duties has been the most important part
of our task. As the letters and submissions were received,
we were able to satisfy ourselves that they were accurately
analysed and assessed by the Assessment Office. We have
now considered the overall assessment of the extent of
acceptance set out in Chapter 3 of the Assessment Office
report, and we unreservedly endorse the conclusion in
paragraph 3.1 that "most of the people of Hong Kong find
the draft agreement acceptable".