whom / 7/
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, which organises an annual confer- ence of parliamentarians, the Commonwealth Press Union, the Association of Commonwealth Universities. the Commonwealth Games Federation and the English Speaking Union of the Commonwealth.
DEPENDENCIES There are 14 remaining British dependent territories: Anguilla: Bermuda; British Antarctic Territory; British Indian Ocean Territory: British Virgin Islands; Cayman Islands; Falkland Islands: Gibraltar: Hong Kong: Montserrat: Pitcairn, Ducie, Henderson and Oeno: St Helena and St Helena Dependencies (Ascension, Tristan da Cunha); South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; and the Turks and Caicos Islands. They have a combined population of 5 million, of which 5 million live in Hong Kong. Few are rich in natural resources, and some are scattered groups of islands. There are no permanent inhabitants in the British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory or South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Most dependencies have considerable self-government with their own legislature and civil service. Britain is generally responsible, through a Governor, for defence, internal security and foreign affairs.
It is Britain's policy to give independence to those dependencies that want it and where it is practicable to do so, and not to force it on those which do not or where it is not practicable. In the case of the Falkland Islands, which is the subject of a territorial claim by Argentina, the inhabitants wish to retain the link with Britain. The Government is committed to the defence of the Islanders' right to live under a government of their own choosing. The Islanders' right of self-determination is reflected in the 1985 Falkland Islands Constitution.
Argentina and Chile have claims to territory which overlaps part of the British Antarctic Territory. Claims to territorial sovereignty in the Antarctic, however, are suspended by the provisions of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty.
Gibraltar is the subject of a territorial claim by Spain, which imposed border restrictions in the 1960s. After the return of democracy to Spain, Britain and Spain reached agreement on the method for handling their differences over Gibraltar and Spanish restrictions were lifted in February 1985. Britain wishes to see the development of practical co-operation between Gibraltar and Spain to the benefit of both peoples and remains committed to honouring the wishes of the people of Gibraltar as to their future.
In 1984 an agreement was signed between Britain and the People's Republic of China on the future of Hong Kong. Under the agreement, which was ratified by the two Governments in 1985, Britain will continue to be responsible for the administration of Hong Kong until 30 June 1997, when the territory will be restored to China. The Chinese Government will then establish a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which will enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs. It will be vested with executive, legislative and independent judicial powers and its government will be composed of local inhabitants. The laws currently in force in Hong Kong will remain basically unchanged, as will its present social and economic systems and its way of life. Private property rights and other rights and freedoms will be protected by law. These arrangements will remain in place for at least 50 years after 1997.
International Peace and Security
Britain is concerned to protect its territorial integrity and political indepen- dence, as well as the interests of its dependencies and of its allies, and pursues these objectives through a national security policy in which deterrence and defence are coupled with efforts to remove or alleviate the causes of international
nearly 6
Under the agreement, China is responsible for drawing up a Basic Law governing Hong Kong after 1997. In the light of the massacre in Peking in June 1989, which gave rise to grave concern in Hong Kong about the future, Britain has expressed reservations about a provision in the Basic Law that could enable the Chinese Government to declare a state of emergency in Hong Kong after 1997. The British Government also believes that the scale and nature of any presence of the People's Liberation Army in Hong Kong requires rigorous attention.
stated/
어