III.
HONG KONG AND CHINA
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(a) Sino-British Relations
3.
The
The Government continue to consider close and friendly
relations with China as important in themselves and of direct benefit to Hong Kong. They regard a cooperative
relationship with China as essential to the territory's future well-being. During 1990, Her Majesty's Government
have worked for a steady improvement in Sino-British relations, particularly after the difficulties of 1989. then Minister with responsibility for Hong Kong, Mr Francis
Maude, visited Peking in July. In October, the 12 member states of the European Community decided on a relaxation of the restrictive measures taken against China in June 1989.
In November, the Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Mr Tian Zengpei, visited London.
(b) Basic Law
4.
The Joint Declaration provides that the basic policies of the People's Republic of China regarding Hong Kong will
be stipulated in a Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and will remain unchanged for fifty
years. Enacted and promulgated on 4 April 1990 by the National People's Congress, the Basic Law is the product of
extensive consultations with the people of Hong Kong,
conducted over a period of five years by the Chinese
authorities. Her Majesty's Government took a very close interest in this process, making their views known to the Chinese authorities through a variety of channels. Their
concern throughout the drafting process was to ensure
consistency between the Basic Law and the provisions of the
Joint Declaration. On the whole they are satisfied that
this has been achieved and that the Basic Law provides a
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