GRS 1500
SECRET
FM HONG KONG
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 1460
OF 130955Z APRIL 87
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING
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HWD 01113
14 APRI707
YOUR TELNOS 991, 1012 AND 1014: BASIC LAW:
TOP COPY a DIST?
MANY THANKS FOR TURS. OUR COMMENTS ARE SET OUT IN THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS.
FIRST TUR
2. PARA. 4. WE AGREE THAT WHILST IT MAY NOT BE ESSENTIAL TO INCLUDE THE REFERENCE POINT IN THE BL GIVEN THE CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES, THE BLDC MEMBERS SHOULD BE MADE AWARE THAT THE TERM ''PREVIOUS' SHOULD
MEAN ''IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HKSAR''AND THAT IT SHOULD THEREFORE INCLUDE LAWS ENACTED BETWEEN THE ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE JD AND 1 JULY 1997, AND EXCLUDE THOSE REPEALED DURING THE SAME PERIOD. WE HAVE ASKED OUR INTERLOCUTORS TO HAVE THIS POINT PUT ON RECORD AT THE FORTHCOMING BLDC PLENUM.
3. PARA. 6. TO AVOID AMBIGUITY, WE SUGGEST REPLACING ''EXECUTIVE AUTHORITIES'' BY ''ORGANS OF GOVERNMENT''
4. PARA, 7. TO AVOID A REPETITIVE CHINESE TEXT, WE PREFER TO DELETE THE WORD **LOCAL' ALTOGETHER. FAILING THAT, THE TERM CAN BE SUBSTITUTED BY ''SPECIAL'. AS A LAST RESORT, WE SUGGEST THAT THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THIS ARTICLE SHOULD BE RECAST ALONG THE
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FOLLOWING LINES: '' THE HKSAR OF THE PRC HAS A HIGH DEGREE OF AUTONOMY.
5. PARA. 8. TO THE EXTENT THAT A CLEAR DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN AUTHORISATION GIVEN BY THE BL AND ADDITIONAL AUTHORISATION BY THE CPG FOR THE
CONDUCT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS BY THE SARG, YOUR FORMULA IS NOT SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT FROM OURS: BUT THE LATTER REQUIRES ONLY MINIMAL CHANGES TO THE TEXT PROPOSEDHKGJXH XRF JVCVDXXQXDZYLH ZG VMVPJ CKDWFFZ OM WE TAKE YOUR POINT ABOUT SITUATIONS WHICH MIGHT REQUIRE JOINT ACTION BY THE MFA AND THE SARG, AND SUGGEST SUBSTITUTING ''.DEAL WITH'' FOR THE WORD MANAGE'' IN BOTH PLACES IN THE DRAFT ARTICLE. WE MAINTAIN THAT THIS FORMULA IS ONLY A FALLBACK AND OUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO CONFINE THE MFA OFFICE IN THE SAR TO LIAISON FUNCTION
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