4
month to one month. Sorry, I can only stay 12 days and discuss roughly with you. Some other members of the Basic Law Drafting Committee will come later. All I want to do is just to have a look around, so please don't count me in this time. Working groups will come later to meet all parties concerned and hold in-depth discussions with them. The size of the working groups may not be so large and their work may be more concrete.
They will hold in-depth and all-round discussions with
all parties concerned, rather than just meeting and chatting. The communication should not be one way. Hong Kong members of the Basic Law Drafting Committee and Consultative Committee should also keep in touch with their Chinese counterparts actively. To maintain the territory's prosperity and stability in the long run,
the members should keep an open mind to views of the public or major problems before the Basic Law is drafted. I have to apologize for this meeting without detailed discussions. Drafting of the Basic Law is not a simple task which can be finished in one or two years. It might take four to five years before it is promulgated in 1990. The situation is ever-changing and everything is ever-changing. Forthcoming changes are foreseeable in this transition period. Therefore we should draft a Basic Law which is tailored for Hong Kong.-
13.
Joint Declaration is the basis wherein the main
features have been included and a high degree of autonomy has been stated. That is to say, Hong Kong will be vested with judicial, legislative, executive and final adjudication
powers. The social system, life-style and economic structure will remain unchanged. Let us study the Joint Declaration carefully. Some concrete stipulations cannot be written
down in the Declaration and the Basic Law cannot be too
concrete as well. llowever, the Basic Law can be more
concrete than the Joint Declaration whereby the principles
CONFIDENTIC
are