SECRET
detail in this area in
some
introduce into the Basic Law new provisions which are not
contained in the Joint Declaration. Given the lack of
the Joint Declaration,
additions are obviously necessary. They should not, however, limit the degree of autonomy promised in the Joint
Declaration
should they introduce restrictive
nor
interpretations of specific provisions in it.
5.
Ideally, apart from making such additional provisions as are necessary to fill any significant gaps which have been left, the Basic Law should merely give the Joint
Declaration and its annexes, so far as possible, the force
of law in the Hong Kong SAR.
There are precedents in various national constitutions for a treaty to be given the force of national law and prevailing over other laws. Mr Shi Jiurong, a Chinese JLG expert, has also stated that it is common for Chinese enactments to give individual
agreements the force of law in the PRC and to make them prevail over domestic laws. Thus, although the Chinese have been insistent that the PRC's policies towards Hong Kong after 1997 could not be expressed as having been agreed with the UK,
the UK, and would probably have reservations over the idea of applying the Joint Declarlation with the UK in explicit terms as part of the Basic Law,
possibility of such an
approach should at least
seriously explored.
the
be
6. The idea of the Basic Law giving the Joint Declaration the force of law was put to Mr Lu Ping while he was in Hong Kong. He replied that people would want something more detailed. The idea is not however to exclude all other details, but to reduce their number and, more important, to preserve the Joint Declaration.
7. If the simple approach of giving the Joint Declaration and its annexes the force of law in the Hong Kong SAR proves unacceptable to the Chinese, the aim should be to
ensure that: