IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION
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The large number of treaties and international obligations relevant to Hong Kong which the sub-group will have to examine individually means that its work will take many years to complete. A good start was made by two expert exchanges in January and May, which paved the way for the agreements reached at the fourth meeting of the Joint Liaison Group on Hong Kong's continued participation in international meteorological and postal affairs after 1997. The two sides agreed that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region should maintain its own separate postal administration and that its representatives should participate as members of the Chinese delegation in meetings of the Universal Postal Union. They also agreed that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region should continue to have its own meteorological service and should remain a member of the World Meteorological Organisation.
Following the first meeting of the sub-group held in October, the Joint Liaison Group reached agreement at its fifth meeting on the means for the Hong Kong Special Ad- ministrative Region to maintain its associate member status in the International Maritime Organisation and on the continued application of maritime conventions relevant to Hong Kong. At the same meeting, agreement was reached on how to ensure that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region would continue to participate in an appropriate capacity in the activities of the International Telecommunications Union, exercising the same autonomy in telecommunications services as at present.