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Joint negotiations continue
The Joint Liaison Group (LG) comprises British and Chinese of- ficials, with team leaders of Am- bassador rank. It meets in plenary session three times a year; and there is an impressive range of subsidiary activity. Its work tends not to capture headlines, but it is vital to the success of the Joint Declaration. And it has been going well. Negotiations are often com- plex and hard-fought; but so far we have always managed to agree on arrangements we need to secure Hong Kong's future.
It is in the JLG that we have agreed: that Hong Kong should become a separate contracting party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), as it then did in 1986 and remain so after 1997; that Hong Kong should remain a member of the Asian De- velopment Bank, and many other international organizations; that Hong Kong should set up its own shipping register; that Hong Kong should introduce a modernized pension scheme for its civil ser- vants, and that Hong Kong should be able to negotiate its own ex- tradition arrangements with foreign jurisdiction. The JLG has also agreed on transitional ar- rangements for travel and indenti- ty documents over the 1997 barrier and on a separate system of Air Service Agreements between Hong Kong and foreign coun- tries-travel, of course, being a vital aspect of Hong Kong's way of life.
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Discussions continue in the JLC on several other issues, and there will be many more to deal with before 1997, And the JLG will con- tinue in existence for two and a half years after the transfer of sove- reignty, until 1 January 2000; so that Britain and China will be able to sort out any residual matters aris- ing from the transition.
Drafting Chinese law
The Basic Law will be a law enacted by the Chinese Parlia- ment, the National People's Con- gress, giving effect under the Chinese constitution to the provi- sions of the Joint Declaration. As it will be a Chinese law, drafting it is the responsibility of the Chinese government. But the Chinese authorities have conducted the ex- ercise in a commendably open fashion, and with extensive con- sultation of Hong Kong people. (who are also represented on the drafting committee). The consulta- tion process is still going on, on the basis of a second draft of the Basic Law published in February this year.
The drafting of the Basic Law, as a Chinese responsibility, is not covered by the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group. Nevertheless, the British government does have a responsibility to ensure that the provisions of the Basic Law fully accord with the Joint Declaration. We have therefore been following the drafting process extremely closely, and have had extensive discussions with the Chinese on a range of channels, including many meetings between myself and the Chinese Foreign Minister. Our chief concern has been to ensure that the Chinese are fully aware of the concerns of Hong Kong peo- ple.
In general, the drafting process hadbeen going well. The first draft of the Basic Law, published in April 1988, was its a satisfactory start. Most of it was fully consistent with the Joint Declaration, and parts of it quoted the Joint Declara- tion verbatim. It did, however, contain a number of deficiencies which were identified during the consultation process and discuss- ed extensively, both in Hong Kong and in the British Parliament. The second draft is a considerable im- provement on the first, and has clearly tried to take account of Hong Kong opinion. There are still some points that need to be sorted out, but the Chinese have made it clear that they are prepared to make further changes before the final text is promulgated in 1990.
Political and human rights
One section of the Basic Law which is being discussed par- ticularly intensely in Hong Kong is that on the future constitutional structure. In recent years, Hong Kong has been developing a more representative system of govern- ment. When the Joint Declaration was signed in 1984, there were no elected Members of the Legisla- tive Council. Now 26 Members-almost half the total-are indirectly elected. In 1991 ten directly elected seats will be introduced. And there will be further changes before 1997.
A review of representative government in Hong Kong in 1987 showed that an overwhelming ma- jority of Hong Kong people sup- ported this process and favoured the gradual evolution of more representative government. But they did not want to force the pace, because they did not want to jeopardize the political stability on which Hong Kong's prosperity and its way of life depend.
The provisions of the draft Basic Law on the political structure after 1997 also follow extensive con- sultation with the Hong Kong peo- ple. The principle of universal suf- frage as the ultimate objective for the election of the future Hong Kong Legislature and the Chief Ex- ecutive is enshrined in the second draft of the Basic Law. (In this respect, incidentally, the draft Basic Law goes beyond what was said in the Joint Declaration about the future political system.) The task now is to devise a timetable and mechanisms for the introduc- tion of universal suffrage in Hong Kong, which will command the confidence of the community as a whole. 【We hope that, as the debate develops, a consensus will emerge to guide the Basic Law drafters.
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Another area of the Basic Law that has attracted close attention has been human rights, and good progress has been made. The latest draft fully reflects the provi sions of the Joint Declaration that rights and freedoms,shall be main- tained, including freedom of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, to form and join trade unions, of cor- respondence, of travel, of move- ment, of strike, of demonstration, of choice of occupation, of academic research, of belief, in- violability of the home, the freedom to marry and the right to raise a family freely It pronibits ar- bitrary arrest and search, and tor- lure.
It also provides that the laws of Hong Kong should implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Inter- national Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. These Covenants are currently given ef- fect in Hong Kong by a combina- tion of statute law, common law and administrative regulations; Hong Kong is currently consider- ing whether these laws and regu- lations should be codified in a Bill of Rights.
Migration problems
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 pro- blems. It does. However hard we work to ensure that the change of Sovereignty is as smooth as possi- ble, 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 relax- ed their immigration criteria. Some of those leaving are un- doubtedly doing so because of 1997, and many of them are profes- sionals, 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.
Emigration is therefore a pro- blem and the Hong Kong govern- ment is taking it seriously. It is not, however, a disaster as some press reports have made out. Hong Kong is producing more professional, managerial and skilled people than it is losing through emigration. Ironically, one of the main reasons why the present level of emigra- tion is hurting Hong Kong at all is the very success of the Hong Kong economy, which has produced a labour shortage and an insatiable demand for skilled workers and good managers.
The most pressing problemsfac- ing Hong Kong now is nothing to do with 1997 at all: the Vietnamese boat people. Some 140,000 of these people have come to Hong Kong since 1975. Over 100,000 have been resettled abroad, and Hong Kong itself has settled 14,000 (no mean achievement for a tiny ter- ritory which has also had to absorb huge numbers of immigrants from China for years).
The number of boat people in Hong Kong diminished to a low of 7,600 in May 1987, but in the past two years the trend has reversed. Arrivals have increased, while the rate of resettlement has fallen. A total of 18,000 boat people arrived in Hong Kong in 1988; resettlement accounted for only 2,700. The great majority of those arriving are not genuine refugees, but eco- nomic migrants. As I write this arti- cle (in early May) a new surge of arrivals is hitting Hong Kong- some 2,000 in the past week. Hong Kong has coped superbly well with this enormous burden, but there is now mounting anxiety in the territory