CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
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branch secretaries in related programme areas. The four which are chaired by the Chief Secretary are the Community Affairs; Constitutional Affairs; Lands, Works, Transport and Housing; and Social Services Policy Group. The Legal Affairs Policy Group is chaired by the Attorney General, and the Finance Group is chaired by the Financial Secretary.
Foreign Relations
The Role of the British Government and the Political Adviser Because of Hong Kong's status as a dependent territory, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs is constitutionally responsible to the British Parliament for the actions of the Hong Kong Government and he has authority to give directions to the Governor of Hong Kong. In practice, however, such formal directions have not been issued in living memory, and Hong Kong conducts its affairs with a high degree of autonomy in all domestic matters. The relationship between London and Hong Kong is also essentially one of co-operation. For example, one important task regularly undertaken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is to ensure that Hong Kong's interests and views (which are not always identical with those of the United Kingdom) are properly considered within the British Government machinery, particularly when new policies are being formulated by other Whitehall departments.
Hong Kong's foreign relations are constitutionally the direct responsibility of the British Government. Thus the British Government is internationally responsible for ensuring that the Hong Kong Government fulfils its obligations under the many international conven- tions and agreements which extend to Hong Kong as well as to the United Kingdom. But in the day-to-day conduct of external affairs, Hong Kong in practice enjoys a considerable degree of autonomy, particularly regarding trade matters. It is a contracting party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in its own right.
The Political Adviser is a senior member of the British Diplomatic Service, seconded to the Hong Kong Government principally to advise the Governor and the Chief Secretary on matters concerning Hong Kong's relations with China. His office is part of the Hong Kong Government. Following extensive involvement in the Sino-British negotiations which culminated in the Joint Declaration, the Political Adviser's office, in conjunction with the General Duties Branch, is closely involved in the work of implementing the Joint Declaration. In addition, the Political Adviser's office continues to offer advice, and, in some cases, to co-ordinate action on a great many more routine matters, notably in promoting the wide range of contacts between Hong Kong Government departments and their counterparts in Guangdong Province, particularly in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. Close and effective cross-border co-operation has developed in such diverse areas as opening new border crossing points and transport links, and in coping with environmental pollution and flooding problems, as well as on questions concerning immigration, customs, postal services and telecommunications. The Political Adviser's office is also one of the channels of communication between the Hong Kong Government and foreign and Commonwealth missions in Hong Kong. These missions do, however, deal directly with the relevant departments of the Hong Kong Government over most day-to-day matters.
External Commercial Relations
Hong Kong possesses full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the basic aim of which is to liberalise world trade and protect the most-favoured-nation principle, is the cornerstone of