BRIEF FOR LORD REAY
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HONG KONG TRADE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL, ANNUAL DINNER: 15 OCTOBER
BRIEFING ON HONG KONG/CHINA
Joint Liaison Group
1.
The Prime Minister visited China on 4-5 September to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on the new Hong Kong Airport. The Joint Communique issued at the end of the visit not only reaffirmed both sides' commitment to the Joint Declaration but also to speed up the work necessary during the transitional period in a new atmosphere of co-operation.
2.
The first test of the commitments in the Joint Communique was the Sino British Joint Liaison Group meeting held on 24-26 September in London. The atmosphere of the meeting was indeed more constructive and positive than previous meetings, and some substantive progress was made, in particular agreement that Hong Kong could negotiate and conclude Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements with its trading partners, and that the preparatory work could now begin on the establishment of a Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong. However, differences remain between the two sides, and on some issues, such as separated air services agreements for Hong Kong and the future use of defence lands in Hong Kong, little if no progess was made.
Sino-UK relations over Hong Kong will face other challenges in the future, eg the development of
3.
representative government in Hong Kong and the selection of the officials who will hold senior positons in the SARG after 1997. Since on such issues there remain major differences between the two sides, we do not underestimate the difficulties we will face over the next few years.
Legislative Elections in Hong Kong
Background
4.
Elections to the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) were held on 12 and 15 September. On 12 September 21 functional constituency members were elected (representing the main professional and occupational sectors in Hong Kong) and on 15 September, for the first time, 18 members were directly elected by general franchise from 9 two-member constituencies. The remainder of the 60 LegCo seats are filled by 18 members appointed by the Governor and 3 ex-officio members who are senior civil servants.
TOMBDJ TG
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