-16 DEC
三 11:55 ODA SHPLT UNIT 071 917 0651
FINAL VERSION
The Rt Hon The Lord Shawcross CBE QC
House of Lords
London SWIA OPW
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
Loud in SWIA ZAH
From The Minister of State
10 December 1992
Sea Lord. Shawcross,
Дели
1 listened wiza close attention to your speech in our debate on hơng Kong on 9 December. I did not have time to deal as fully as I wished with the points you made in my closing remarks. therefore wanted to let you have a detailed written response, including some of the points I made in the debate.
Declaration
Law.
I
the
Your central point was that the Governor's proposals undermined the Joint
the Basic
must tell VCU anc contravened
that the Government are quite certain that this is not the case. You suggested that the proposals undermined the Juint Declaration because the document contained no word about increasing democracy. But you will see that paragraph 49 of the Joint Declaration
"the
of legislature says
Special Hong Kong
Given that the Administrative Reg.on shall be constituted by elections".
wa! Legislative Council in 1984 (when the Joint Declaration was signed)
this shows that the British and composed entirely of appointed members, Chinese governments were agreed that the political system in Hong Kong should evolve from the all-appointed Legislative Council in 1984 "constituted by elections" by the time that the Special Administrative Region cale into being in 1997. The Governor's proposals fit squarely into process of evolution.
to cze that was
that
The
You also said that the Governor's proposals contravened the Basic Law. facts do not bear this out. The Basic Law stipulates ("Decision of the National People's Congress on the Formation of the First Government and the First Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
6) that para
the
of First Legislative Council the Hong Kong Speciel Administrative Region in 1997 shall be composed of 60 members: 20 returned by
elections,
returned by an geographical constituencies through direct
The Basic Election Committee, and 30 returned by functional constituencies. Law does not spell out the detailed electoral arrangements which should apply.
10
The Legislative Council to be elected in 1995
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