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Mr Wood
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Pr/Lord Glenarthur
10 DOWNING STREET 5 No2612
LONDON SW1A 2AA
C4 252
JF 25/2
10 Hym
From the Private Secretary
Rustice!
24 February 1988
No 10 have overlocked
need for consequential armendment
para 3
The Prime Minister has asked me to thank you for your letter of 8 February.
On 10 February the Hong Kong Government published their White Paper, "The Development of Representative Government: The Way Forward", which announced inter alia that ten directly elected members would be introduced into the Legislative Council in 1991. I know that this decision does not go as far as you, and some people in Hong Kong, would have wished. But many others regard it as a very good decision which represents a balanced and reasonable response to the views expressed by the people. of Hong Kong and their representatives. It is a major step forward, following the substantial restructuring of the Legislative Council which took place in 1985 when 24 indirectly elected members were introduced. And it is important to remember that we are not seeking to create a temporary structure, but a system that can continue after the transfer of sovereignty in 1997.
On emigration, the Hong Kong Government does not maintain records of people who leave Hong Kong and subsequently return. The point is that the population of Hong Kong has always been a particularly mobile one, and the movement of people works both ways. Our aim, as stated in my letter of 4 February, is to ensure that Hong Kong remains an environment in which people will want to make their lives.
Progress on the drafting of the Basic Law has already featured in a number of exchanges between the British and Chinese sides on the implementation of the Joint Declaration. The Joint Declaration itself provides that the functions of the Joint Liaison Group shall include discussion of "matters relating to the smooth transfer of government in 1997". There will be adequate opportunity for the British side to satisfy
itself that the eventual provisions of the Basic Law fully and]
accurately reflect the Joint Declaration.
个
C. D. POWELL
Michael B. Yahuda, Esq.
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