FOREIGN SECRETARY
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SPEECH
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LONDON
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16 SEPTEMBER 1991
the setting up of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong,
replacing the Privy Council, that could have been a very difficult
issue and I hope it has now been satisfactorily resolved on the
basis of the independence of the Hong Kong judiciary.
We have speeded up the work of the Joint Liaison Group which is
the British and Chinese body which deals with these practical
problems. It has been agreed that issues which get stuck should
be referred to Foreign Ministers and I shall be meeting my
Chinese colleague again in New York next week and we shall be
meeting at six monthly intervals and the two Prime Ministers have
indicated that if we get stuck then matters will go for their
personal attention.
While we were there the week before last there were clear signs of
an election campaign under way in Hong Kong. For the first time,
as you know, as a result of the elections yesterday, there will be
directly elected members to LEGCO and there is provision for a
rising curve of directly elected members continuing beyond 1997.
It is
I could add just a word about that. I believe that yesterday' s
elections open a new and encouraging chapter in Hong Kong's
history. Mr Martin Lee and his allies fought a lively and
successful campaign based on a call for faster democracy.
worth noting that like the British government, like the Hong Kong
government, like the Chinese government, they accept the Joint
Declaration and intend to work within it. I hope that the Chinese
government, having acquiesced in this step forward into direct