.....
WS NEW
EMINI GEMINI GEMINI GEMINEWS NEW N
GN 33146
WORRIES GROW ABOUT THE GREAT HONG KONG SWITCHOVER
*Note: Delegation goes to Hong Kong April 16
NEWS
O
EWS NEWS NEWS M
Just eight years remain before Britain hands over Hong Kong to China. Its future was decided in 1984 under a Sino-British declaration providing for Hong Kong to retain its capitalist way of life for at least 50 years. As 1997 comes nearer, however, worries grow that expected moves towards universal franchise may not materialise and that Britain is walking away from its responsibilities. Now, reports Gemini News Service, British MPs are investigating how the situation is developing.
By KELLY MCPARLAND Hong Kong
1100 words approx
For several days in April a team of British MPs is visiting Hong Kong and China to try to answer an emotive question: has London sold out its colony to Beijing?
It may seem a little late to be asking. Hong Kong's fate has been sealed at least since 1984, when the Sino-British Joint Declaration affirmed sovereignty over the territory would revert to China in 1997, and there is little chance Britain could change the pact now, even if it wanted to.
But the moment is apt nontheless. While the Joint Declaration spelled out Hong Kong's future in broad generalities - it was to remain capitalist for at least 50 years, and retain "a high degree of autonomy" within China only recently have the details of Beijing's intentions become clear.
They are contained in a document known as the Basic Law, which spells out the rules and regulations under which Chinese Hong Kong will live. The first draft, released last year, did little to reassure those prone to distrust Beijing. The second draft, only recently revealed, is to undergo public discussion this spring.
It is the second draft, and the negotiations that preceeded it, that have raised alarm levels in the territory and led to the visit of MPs. It is not what the draft contains that is so worrying, but what it omits: a guarantee that Hong Kong will be able to vote for its own leaders in direct, universal elections.
There will be elections - but not right away, and not everyone will be allowed to vote. Beijing's plan would delay universal suffrage until at least 2012, and then make it dependent on an array of conditions.
NOTE
ADDRENEW GEMINI NEWS SERVICE
119 FARRINGDON ROAD, LONDON EC1R 3DA, TELEPHONE: 01-833 4141, TELEX: 28604 (REF: 3172)