CONFIDENTIAL
072244(249,
CONFIDENTIAL
FM HONG KONG
TO DESKBY 1911OOZ FCO
OF 19100OZ OCTOBER 89
TELNO 3498
MDHIAN 0564
HK B
012/1
TOP COPY Q DIST ?
enter
www/19/10
Are 23/10
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG
(243) LAA
YOUR TELNOS 2124-25: BASIC LAW: OMELCO SUBMISSION: DRAFT REPLY
1. WE ARE CONTENT WITH THE GENERAL APPROACH OF THE DRAFT REPLY TO OMELCO IN 2ND TUR. HOWEVER, IT SEEMS TO US THAT PARA 3 CAN BE SIMPLIFIED AND THE CONTENT OF PARA 4 CAN BE COMBINED WITH PARA 6. ACCORDINGLY, WE PROPOSE THAT THE PASSAGE FROM PARA 3, THIRD SENTENCE TO THE END OF PARA 6 BE REPLACED BY THE FOLLOWING:
QUOTE BUT THE BASIC LAW WILL BE A SOURCE OF LAW NOT ONLY IN THE
HKSAR BUT ALSO IN THE MAINLAND: AND, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE JOINT DECLARATION, FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE WILL BE RESERVED TO THE
CPG. THESE ARE FACTORS WHICH MUST INEVITABLY BE REFLECTED IN ANY BASIC LAW PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE POWER OF AMENDMENT, THE EXTENT OF LEGISLATIVE AUTONOMY, INTERPRETATION AND THE RELEVANCE
OF THE PRC CONSTITUTION TO THE SAR.
YOU HAVE ALSO DRAWN ATTENTION TO A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS RELATING TO
DEFENCE AND LAW AND ORDER WHICH HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECT OF MUCH
DISCUSSION IN HONG KONG IN RECENT WEEKS. I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT
YOUR CONCERNS ON THIS POINT ARE WELL UNDERSTOOD.
THE PRACTICAL WORKING OF VARIOUS PROVISIONS ALSO REQUIRES FURTHER
CONSIDERATION. ONE EXAMPLE IS ARTICLE 22, TO WHICH YOU HAVE DRAWN ATTENTION. THERE IS ALSO THE QUESTION OF AN AUTHENTIC ENGLISH TEXT
OF THE BASIC LAW, WHICH SEEMS TO BE IMPLICITLY REQUIRED BY THE DRAFT ARTICLE 9 BUT IS NOWHERE MADE EXPLICIT. I CAN WELL
APPRECIATE THAT HONG KONG PEOPLE WISH TO BE ASSURED THAT ENGLISH CAN CONTINUE TO BE USED IN THE HKSAR COURTS WITHOUT THE RISK OF
CONFUSION ARISING FROM DIFFERENT WAYS OF TRANSLATING THE BASIC LAW PROVISIONS.
UNQUOTE
2. ON PARA 7 LAST 2 SENTENCES, WE THINK WE CAN BE MORE
.
FORTHCOMING IN ASSISTING THE OMELCO TO CONVEY THEIR VIEWS TO THE CHINESE. ALSO, GIVEN THAT THE BLDC HAS MADE CLEAR THAT THEY DO NOT ACCEPT OMELCO'S VIEWS ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT, IT MIGHT SEEM
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