1
CONFIDENTIAL
were confirmed by an
independent
9407
te am of monitors (Cmnd.
(1984)). Parliament debated the agreement in the light of these
views and approved Her Majesty's Government's intention to sign it.
5.
On 19 December 1984 the Prime Minister and the Chinese Premier
signed the Joint Declaration in Peking. Once the Hong Kong Act 1985
(c. 15) had been passed by Parliament, instruments of ratification
were exchanged on 27 May 1985 and the Joint Declaration entered in to
force immediately.
It was registered by both the British and
Chinese Governments
at
the United Nations on 12 June 1985.
6.
Under the terms of the Join t
Government declares that it will
Governments
Her
restore
Declaration Her Majesty's
Hong Kong to the People's
Republic of China with effect from 1 July 1997, and the two
Majesty's Government will be
administration of Hong Kong up to that date.
implementation of the
declare
that
responsible for the
Both Governments are committed to the full
Joint Declaration and its Annexes.
(b) Joint Liaison Group
7.
been established under
view to the effective
in order to ensure a
A Sino-British Joint Liaison Group has
the terms of the Joint Declaration with a
implementation of the Joint Declaration and
smooth transfer of government in 1997. The Group held its first
meeting in London from 22 to 25 July 1985. At that meeting the two
sides agreed on the working procedures of the Group
for Hong arrangemen ts
Kong to remain
of member
Development Bank after 30 June 1997. The Group also discussed Hong
Kong's continued participation in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and The Multifibre Arrangement and the continued
application of international rights and obligations to Hong Kong.
a
the
and
on
Asian
It
was
agreed
that discussion of these
the second meeting of the Group.
- 2 -
CONFIDEN TIAL
subjects subjects would
continue
at