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5.
Annex II to the Joint Declaration provides that from 1 July this year the Joint Liaison Group will have Hong Kong as its principal base. In practical terms this means that each side will
open an office for its Senior Representative in the territory; and that experts meeting under the auspices of the Group will generally come together in Hong Kong. But the full meetings of the Group will
continue to be held in rotation between Hong Kong, London and
Peking, as the Joint Declaration provides.
6.
It must be recognised that when the Joint Declaration was
first published there were some misgivings in Hong Kong about the
role and functions of the Joint Liaison Group. I am happy to say
that these have very largely been dispelled. It is an accepted
feature of the diplomatic landscape, as it will soon be on the Hong
Kong landscape. It performs a necessary task. It does so
discreetly and efficiently. Both the British and the Chinese
Governments attach importance to the clear statements in the Joint Declaration that the Joint Liaison Group is not an organ of power, and will play no part in the administration of Hong Kong.
7.
This House last discussed Hong Kong on 10 February, the day
on which the Hong Kong Government published its White Paper on the
development of representative government in the territory.
The
8.
The reaction in Hong Kong was generally a positive one.
White Paper was widely seen as a balanced and well-judged response
to the views which had been expressed by the community during an
extensive exercise of public consultation. It was overwhelmingly endorsed by the Legislative Council. A proposed amendment regretting that direct elections were to be introduced in 1991
rather than this year was rejected by 42 votes to 7. And it is
particularly noteworthy that in that vote each element making up the
Legislative Council, including those members themselves directly
elected to lower levels of government, was opposed to the amendment.
9.
We have come a considerable distance over the past four years
in responding to the aspirations of Hong Kong people for greater
participation in their government:
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