Annual Report on Hong Kong 1984-85
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I. INTRODUCTION
1. Her Majesty's Government agreed, during the Parliamentary debates on the Hong Kong Bill, to produce an annual report on Hong Kong and to lay it before Parliament. The purpose of this report is to keep Parliament informed of developments in Hong Kong, given Parliament's strong and continuing interest in the territory.
2. This is the first annual report. It covers the period from the initialling of the draft Sino-British agreement on Hong Kong in September 1984 to the opening of the 1985/86 session of Hong Kong's Legislative Council by the Governor on 30 October 1985.
3. The report contains a general survey of the main events in Hong Kong in this period, covering the steps already taken to implement the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the steady progress to more representative government, the state of the economy, the social and development programmes proposed by the Hong Kong Government, refugees and security.
II. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SINO-BRITISH
DECLARATION
(a) Joint Declaration
JOINT
4. After two years of negotiations a draft agreement on Hong Kong was initialled on behalf of the British and Chinese Governments on 26 September 1984. The people of Hong Kong were given an opportunity to express their views on the draft agreement, and an Assessment Office was established to collate, analyse and assess these views. The Office reported in November 1984 that most of the people of Hong Kong found the agreement acceptable. Their findings were confirmed by an independent team of monitors (Cmnd. 9407 (1984)). Parliament debated the agreement in the light of these views and approved Her Majesty's Government's intention to sign it.
5. On 19 December 1984 the Prime Minister and the Chinese Premier signed the Joint Declaration in Peking. Once the Hong Kong Act 1985 (C. 15) had been passed by Parliament, instruments of ratification were exchanged on 27 May 1985 and the Joint Declaration entered into force immediately. It was registered by both the British and Chinese Governments at the United Nations on 12 June 1985.
6. Under the terms of the Joint Declaration Her Majesty's Government declares that it will restore Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China with effect from 1 July 1997, and the two Governments declare that Her Majesty's Government will be responsible for the administration of Hong Kong up to that date. Both Governments are committed to the full implementation of the Joint Declaration and its Annexes.
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