GINAAK
SECRET
A. AN ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUES WHICH THE BASIC LAW WILL
HAVE TO ADDRESS
1. Paragraph 3 (12) of the Sino-British Joint Declaration states that the basic policies of the People's Republic of China regarding Hong Kong and the elaboration of them in Annex 1 to the Joint Declaration will be stipulated in a Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, and they will remain unchanged for 50 years.
2.
This will be enacted under Article 31 of the Chinese
Constitution which reads: "The State may establish Special Administration Regions when necessary. The systems to be
instituted in Special Administrative Regions shall be prescribed by law enacted by the National People's Congress in the light of the specific conditions." A major point for consideration is how much detail, in addition to what is already stipulated in the Joint Declaration, should the Basic Law. The argument ranges from the
(so necessary
as to allow the SAR maximum
flexibility) to the maximum possible (so as to provide
of the SAR's
appear
minimum
in
absolute certainty in
activities).
sphere every
3.
is believed the Chinese are
the
Joint
it The position which likely to adopt is that the Basic Law will reflect and put into legal form the policies stated in Declaration, and will lay down basic principles and general provisions, but should not be too detailed or specific in order not to preclude desirable changes.
4.
From Hong Kong's point of view, the essential requirement is that the Basic Law should incorporate completely and faithfully all that is in Annex 1 to the Joint Declaration. In some areas (eg the future structure of government) it is possible that the Chinese will wish to
SPORAM