CONFIDENTIAL
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BSTR
hu
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HKC 241/1
FROM:
A R Paul
RECEIV
5 NOV 1990
Hong Kong Department
DATE:
1 November 1990
Ms/Major
CC:
Mr McLaren
Mr Burns
Mr Fifoot, Legal Advisers
Ms Barrett, Legal Advisers
Ms Saunders
DARWIN CHEN'S CALL ON LEGAL ADVISERS
1.
34
Thank you for your minute of 31 October about Darwin
Chen's call on Mr Fifoot and Ms Barrett.
Mr Chen went over
broadly similar ground with me. I have very little to add.
2.
On the ExCo/LegCo relationship, I found what Mr Chen had to say reasonably encouraging. He also told me that the
Hong Kong Government have a paper on the ExCo/LegCo relationship already on the stocks; and that they are simply waiting for an opportune moment to put it to ExCo. I think it would be worth trying to obtain a copy of the draft paper soon, to give us more time to consider it. This would be all the more desirable if the paper goes into the wider
issues mentioned by Mr Chen.
3. On the Bill of Rights, Mr Chen told me that a delay in
the enactment of the Bill of Rights until early 1991 for "Hong Kong" reasons would give cover for our continuing efforts to square the Chinese. But he was not optimistic
that he would succeed. He said that as far as LegCo was
concerned, the main concern was now whether the Bill would affect the ability of the Hong Kong authorities to maintain
JL6AAJ/1
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