1337
parásinna samakannada Seas
HONG KONG
object to being returned to Vietnam. According to an aide-memoire annexed to the agreement, Vietnam will provide the same guarantees of fair treatment, reintegration procedures, and assistance as volunteers. Since 1980 the Government has routinely deported Chinese illegal immigrants back to China. In 1989 an average of 43 illegal immigrants were arrested each day.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
While Hong Kong is a free society with most individual freedoms and rights protected by law and custom, citizens of the territory do not have the right to change their government. The Governor is appointed by, and serves at the pleasure of, the Crown. He is advised on policy by an appointed Executive Council. Legislation is enacted and funds provided by the Legislative Council (Legco), which also debates policy and questions the administration. Though the Governor has the ultimate control of the administration of Hong Kong, by convention he rarely exercises the full extent of his powers. In practice, decisions are arrived at by consensus. At present, representative government employing universal franchise does not exist.
Universal direct elections are employed to fill a majority of seats on grassroots advisory district boards but less than half the seats in the municipal councils. There are indirect elections every 3 years to fill 26 of 57 seats in the Legco. Ex-officio members or official or appointed members chosen by the Governor occupy the remaining seats.
In April China's National People's Congress formally passed the Basic Law, which is to serve as a type of constitution for Hong Kong when it becomes a special administrative region of China in 1997. The Basic Law provides for a strong executive to be chosen or recommended through indirect elections and appointed by Beijing and a legislature elected partly through direct elections and partly through indirect elections. Legco passed a motion expressing its disappointment with the formulation of the future political structure; and in April it passed a stronger motion calling for amendments to the Basic
Law.
The
Citing the need to maintain a politically stable environment for continued economic growth, the Government opted to democratize through an "evolutionary" approach. In response to popular demands, the Government agreed to a somewhat faster timetable of political reform in the transition period leading up to 1997. In March it announced that, of the 60 Legco seats at stake in 1991, 18, rather than the original 10, would be directly elected in the first such direct Legco elections in Hong Kong's history. A number of political parties, representing a broad spectrum of political opinion, have been formed or are in the process of forming to contest these elections.
Section 4
Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
The
The Government has consistently cooperated with international and nongovernmental organizations on human rights issues. UNHCR and nongovernmental human rights organizations have full access to Hong Kong's centers for Vietnamese boat people.