AGREEMENT ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG
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An agreement on the future of Hong Kong was initialled in Peking 26 September 1984. The text of the agreement was published as a White Paper in London and Hong Kong. An Assessment Office was established in Hong Kong under the auspices of the Governor to collate and assess the opinion of the people of Hong Kong on the overall acceptability of the Agreement. The Assessment Office concluded that the agreement was broadly acceptable to most of the people of Hong Kong. Independent monitors of the assessment procedure concluded that the Assessment Office had discharged its responsiblities properly, impartially and accurately.
Parliament debated the agreement in December 1984 in the light of the Assessor's and Monitors' reports and endorsed HMG's intention to proceed to signature of the Agreement. The Prime Minister and the Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang signed the Agreement in Peking on 19 December 1984.
The Hong Kong Act has passed through Parliament and received Royal Assent on 4 April. The Act will enable us to ratify the Agreement which states that ratification shall take place before 30 June 1985. It makes provision for the termination of British sovereignty over Hong Kong as from 1 July 1997 and for other consequential and connected matters.
The Hong Kong agreement consists of:
A Joint Declaration, in which the United Kingdom declares that it will return Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997, the Chinese Government declares in broad outlines its policies towards Hong Kong, and the two Governments agree implement these declarations and the Annexes;
Annex I in which the Chinese Government expands on different aspects of its policies towards Hong Kong in fourteen sections;
Annex II which sets out the terms of reference and outline