$
The Nature Of The Problem
SECRET
2.
Ministers
British
At present the administration of Hong Kong is the responsibility
of the Governor of Hong Kong, appointed by The Queen.
have adopted the planning assumption that a resident
Governor, appointed from London, should be retained up to 1997.
3. From 1 July 1997, under the provisions of the Joint Declaration,
a Chief Executive will be appointed for the Hong Kong SAR. He will
be a local inhabitant, selected by election or consultation.
4.
The present powers of the Governor and the future powers of the
Chief Executive will not be identical. At present, although in
practice Hong Kong already exercises a high degree of autonomy, the
Governor is constitutionally subject to the directions of HMG. Under the Joint Declaration the Hong Kong SAR will also enjoy a high
degree of autonomy (except in foreign and defence affairs). However
the powers and responsibilities of the Chief Executive have yet to
be defined by the Chinese Government in
in the Basic Law of the Hong
Kong SAR. The Chinese seem to envisage that he will not exercise
all the powers over the internal administration which, on paper if not in practice, the Governor at present enjoys.
Chinese intentions
5. Chinese drafting of the Basic Law for the Hong Kong SAR is
already under way, and a first draft will be published in 1988. At
present the Chinese appear to envisage that the first Chief
Executive of the Hong Kong SAR would be chosen before 1997 but would
assume a role in the administration only on 1 July 1997.
6. It is only realistic to recognise that as 1997 approaches the
people of Hong Kong and their representatives will be in
increasingly close contact with the Chinese. They will increasingly
look to the Chinese for approval, if not instructions, in their approach to public business. The existence before 1 July 1997 of a Chief Executive designated by China but not formally integrated into
the Government structure would constitute а potentially dangerous alternative focus of political power. This could cause political
SECRET
-2-