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CONFIDENTIAL
At Mr Maude's request we have conducted a further round of
lobbying on international support in advance of his visit to Hong Kong and the publication of the Bill. The response is now more
encouraging and several countries have agreed that we can refer
publicly to the new measures they have taken or the scope for
flexibility under existing arrangements (Mr Paul's submission of
30 March).
Basic Law
6. The Basic Law is expected to be promulgated on 4 April. Ji
Pengfei's speech to the National People's Congress this week
contained helpful remarks on the relationship between the Basic Law
and the PRC constitution (one of the points we have raised with the
Chinese).
7.
Martin Lee intends to put down a LegCo motion on 4 April calling
for the Basic Law to be brought properly into line with the Joint
Declaration.
At Mr Maude's request, we have prepared detailed public lines on
all the more controversial provisions in the Basic Law (Mr Paul's
submission of 30 March).
8.
Bill of Rights
9. The draft Bill was published on 16 March for a 2 month period of
public consultation. The Chinese are insisting that the Bill of
Rights should be on the agenda for JLG XV (24-27 April). But they have not explained what their objections (if any) are to the
substance of the Bill.
Autonomy
10. Mr Maude has commissioned a further paper on ways of developing Hong Kong's autonomy before his visit on 7-11 April.
PADS
11. The outcome of Lord Young's discussions in Peking was generally
helpful. The Chinese have agreed not to comment publicly on PADS
unless invited to do so. Lord Young is calling on the Secretary of
State to discuss his visit on 3 April.
CONFIDENTIAL