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UK
The FCO Minister with special responsibility for IIK, Lord Glenarthur, had a meeting with representatives from the Bar Association and the Law Society in London yesterday, some papers reported.
The representatives had told Lord Glenarthur that they felt the draft Basic Law could not effectively implement the Joint Declaration.
According to the HK Economic Journal, Lord Glenarthur said in reply that honouring promises to HK people and a full implementation of the Joint Declaration in the Basic Law were the responsibility of the British and Chinese Governments.
The Oriental Daily News said that the representatives had failed to convince Lord Glenarthur to change Britain's established policies towards the Basic Law.
The paper added that the representatives also had separate meetings with FCO officials and a Labour MP, John Marek, yesterday.
Some reports noted that over 800 Chinese residents now living in Britain, including HK students, would send Peking a petition, saying the draft Basic Law was "totally undemocratic".
The petition would also demand a more democratic government for HK when China resumed sovereignty over the territory in 1997.
Visits to China
A former president of the American Chamber of Commerce, Ira Kaye, said that a vice director of the HK and Macau Affairs Office, Lu Ping, had told them that an amendment would be made to the draft Basic Law to stipulate that Chinese people holding foreign passports would enjoy consular protection in the HK SAR, Wah Kiu Yat Po reported.
Mr Kaye was speaking to reporters after a luncheon meeting yesterday. It was noted that Mr Kaye and a group of foreign
businessmen had visited Peking recently where they had meetings with Chinese officials, including Mr Lu and Li Hou.
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