December 1992
Mr Bowen Wells MP House of Commons LONDON
SW1A OAA
Thank you for your letter of 14 December addressed to Douglas Hurd. Your support for Chris Patten's proposals for constitutional development in Hong Kong is most welcome.
Firstly, the method of
You raise two specific points. choosing the Chief Executive. This is laid down in Annex I of the Basic Law. I enclose the relevant extract. The Election Committee referred to here is, incidentally, not the same as the one which is supposed to elect 10 members of the 1995 Legislative Council. The Basic Law does not define how the 1995 Election Committee should be composed, and the Governor has proposed that it should be made up of people who have themselves been elected.
Your second point, about an independent authority to administer elections, is well taken. The Governor has already proposed in October that an Independent Boundary and Election Commission should be set-up and legislation will be put to the Legislative Council early next year.
ALASTAIR GOODLAD
cc: Rt Hon David Howell, MP
wells.let.SA
SLM