It
maintained, including freedom of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, to form and join trade unions, of correspondence, of travel, of movement, of strike, of demonstration, of choice of occupation, of academic research, of belief, inviolability of the home, the freedom to marry and the right to raise a family freely.
prohibits arbitrary arrest and search, and torture. It also provides that the laws of Hong Kong should implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights. These Covenants are currently given effect in Hong Kong by a combination of statute law, common law and administrative regulations; Hong Kong is currently considering whether these laws and regulations should be codified in a Bill of Rights.
Both the British and the Chinese Governments remain
committed to full implementation of the Joint Declaration
through the Joint Liaison Group and the drafting of the
Basic Law. This is not to say that Hong Kong does not have
its problems. It does. However hard we work to ensure that
the change of sovereignty is as smooth as possible, and however successful we may be, 1997 will be a change for Hong Kong. And because it is a unique and unprecedented event,
Hong Kong people cannot but have some anxieties about it.
One manifestation of this is a rise in the rate of
emigration from Hong Kong.
Emigration must be seen in perspective.
Tens of
thousands have emigrated from Hong Kong every year for decades. But numbers have increased in the last two years,
as countries like Canada and Australia have relaxed their
immigration criteria. Some of those leaving are undoubtedly doing so because of 1997, and many of them are
professionals, talented people whose skills are much in
demand wherever enterprise flourishes. Some of these people will return to Hong Kong, having secured their "insurance
policy"; but not all.