- 2
Somebody asked Zhou Nan that, since Hong
Kong people worried about non-convergence between the Basic Law and the representative government
system, could this matter be discussed by the Sino-
British Joint Liaison Group?
Zhou Nan replied that since the Joint
Liaison Group was a diplomatic organization of the
two governments concerned mainly with diplomatic affairs affecting Hong Kong, it would not discuss the
Basic Law. If, however, there were problems on
convergence in future, there would be communication in
the Joint Liaison Group. The Chinese and British
Governments had the same aim. I beleive that the two
governments would wish to see convergence, because
only through convergence could the stability of Hong
Kong be assured. We not only wished to see stability
and prosperity in Hong Kong after 1997, but also
stability between now and 1997. This was in the interest of Hong Kong people as well as in the interest of
the Chinese and British sides.
As regards how the future SAR's source of power and structure were to be determined in the Basic Law, Zhou Nan said that these questions would be
decided by the Basic Law Drafting Committee. The
Drafting Committee would follow the views of the
majority of the people in Hong Kong. That was why
there was a need for a Consultative Committee, that
is to find a scheme which would be acceptable to the
majority of the people in Hong Kong. Obviously, no scheme would be accepted by a hundred per cent of all the people, but we hoped to be able to devise a scheme
}