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Countdown to 1997
Report of the International Commission of Jurists
Introduction
(Chapter I).
There are bland statements in
the introduction (e.g. penultimate paragraph on page 2) that the British Government have "handed over the people of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China without first obtaining their consent is widely seen as a grave breach of Britain's obligations as the Colonial power". These are
inaccurate, misleading and unhelpful. What has been done
is that, in accordance with a most remarkable set of safeguards and conditions designed to protect and preserve Hong Kong's autonomy and way of life, the British
Government has agreed that the People's Republic of China
shall resume the exercise of sovereignty and take over responsibility for the defence and foreign affairs of Hong In addition, even the Commission admit (on page 2)
that there is no
Kong.
Joint
reason to doubt the conclusion that the
Declaration was acceptable to the people of Hong
Kong.
There
are many other points in this Chapter on which it would be more appropriate for the FCO to comment.
Historical and Factual Background (Chapter II)
No comments.