CONFIDENTIAL

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20.

But a judgment on the accuracy of a matter as

complex as the views of the people of Hong Kong cannot

be left at that. As Chapter 3 illustrates, an accurate

assessment of "the extent of acceptance by the people

of Hong Kong" involves a great deal more than a simple

aggregation of the responses received from the many

organisations and individuals that submitted their views;

and we have been impressed by the quality of the detailed

analysis of views and surveys which the Assessment Office

has made in the short time available for preparing its

report. Our only concern is that the succinct general

conclusion in paragraph 3.1 and the subsequent paragraphs

of detailed analysis may not readily convey the total

perspective of Hong Kong's reactions to the draft

agreement as they emerge from the report as a whole.

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21.

As independent Monitors, who have shared all

the evidence available to the Assessment Office, we therefore

wish to complement the overall assessment in the report

with some final words of our own.

22.

The principal vehicle of response has been the

remarkable range of submissions from the many organisations

of Hong Kong; they have conveyed an overwhelming message

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