IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION
Land Commission
The Sino-British Land Commission was established in 1985 in accordance with Annex III to the Joint Declaration. Its function is to conduct consultations on the implementation of the provisions of Annex III on land leases and other related matters. The commission is composed of three officials on each side and meetings are held in Hong Kong.
During 1989, the Land Commission held two formal meetings. Agreement was reached at the meeting held in March on the 1989–90 Land Disposal Programme to make available about 78 hectares of land during the financial year. In addition, the commission agreed that a further five hectares of land could be released 'for commercial, residential and industrial development in the course of the year, if there was a demand for it.
Under the terms of paragraph 6 of Annex III to the Joint Declaration, premium income obtained by the Hong Kong Government from land transactions is, after deduction of the cost of land production, to be shared equally between the Hong Kong Government and the future Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. The average cost of land production is adjusted by the commission annually, and for the 1989–90 financial year the agreed figure was $2,390 per square metre. The Hong Kong Government's share of premium income is put into the Capital Works Reserve Fund for financing public works and land development. The future SAR Government's share is held in a trust fund, called the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Land Fund, established by the Chinese side of the Land Commission. The fund is managed under the direction and advice of an investment committee, which includes among its members prominent bankers in Hong Kong, as well as a monetary expert from the Hong Kong Government. Over $16,485 million, representing the future SAR Government's share of premium income for the period May 27, 1985 to September 30, 1989, has been transferred to the fund.
The Basic Law
The Joint Declaration provides that the basic policies of the People's Republic of China (PRC) regarding Hong Kong will be stipulated in a Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by the National People's Congress (NPC) of the PRC, and these policies will remain unchanged for 50 years. The Chinese Government appointed in 1985 the Basic Law Drafting Committee (BLDC), which comprises both mainland and Hong Kong members, to undertake the drafting of the document. The Basic Law Consultative Committee (BLCC), consisting exclusively of Hong Kong members of broad repre- sentation, was also established to canvass the views of Hong Kong people on the draft Basic Law.
The first complete draft of the Basic Law was published in April 1988, followed by a five-month consultation exercise conducted by the BLCC. Many of the views expressed during the consultation exercise were reflected in a revised draft, which the BLDC submitted in February 1989 to the Standing Committee of the NPC. The Standing Committee then endorsed the 'Basic Law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (Draft)' for further consultation.
Consultation on the second draft of the Basic Law was originally scheduled to last until July. As in the first consultation round, a delegation of mainland BLDC members visited Hong Kong in April to receive public opinions on the draft at first hand.
The work of both the BLDC and BLCC was, however, interrupted by the events in China early in June. Consultation on the second draft was not resumed until late July, when the consultation period was extended by three months to the end of October.
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