XN000022-1985-05-30 — Page 6

THURSDAY, AL 30, 185

+ IF THE INDEPENDENCE ROUTE HAD BEEN POSSIBLE FOR HONG KONG, THEN I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT HONG KONG WOULD HAVE BECOME AN INDEPENDENT CITY STATE AT LEAST 25 YEARS AGO, BUT FOR HMG TO PURSUE THAT ROUTE WAS NOT POSSIBLE FOR WELL KNOWN AND ACCEPTED GEO-POLITICAL REASONS. NOR WAS CONTINUING BRITISH ADMINISTRATION UNDER CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY AN ACCEPTABLE ROUTE, NOT BECAUSE THE EXERCISE OF SOVEREIGNTY HAS TO BE COUPLED WITH TITULAR SOVEREIGNTY - THERE HAVE BEEN MANY EXAMPLES OF THAT SITUATION IN THE PAST 200 AND MORE YEARS - BUT BECAUSE THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT WAS UNWILLING TO DRAW A DISTINCTION BETWEEN SOVEREIGNTY AND ULTIMATE ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY. AT THE SAME TIME, A SIMPLE STRAIGHTFORWARD INCORPORATION OF HONG KONG - AND FOR PRACTICAL REASONS THIS WOULD HAVE TO BE THE CEDED AND LEASED TERRITORIES TOGETHER - WAS SEEN TO BE DISADVANTAGEOUS TO CHINA'S INTERESTS AND UNACCEPTABLE TO THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG. 60 PER CENT OF WHOM WERE BORN HERE AND THE REMAINING 40 PER CENT CAME TO LIVE HERE VOLUNTARILY.

+SO, THE ONLY REMAINING ROUTE OPEN WHICH, CONCEIVABLY, WOULD ENABLE AT LEAST PARTIAL OBSERVANCE OF THE PRINCIPLE ENUNCIATED BY THE DEVONSHIRE DECLARATION, WAS THE SO-CALLED AUTONOMY ROUTE. THIS ROUTE WAS OPENED UP. AS IT WERE. BY THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT'S IMAGINATIVE CONCEPT OF 'ONE COUNTRY/TWO SYSTEMS'. NOW, ALTHOUGH THE SINO-BRITISH AGREEMENT COMPRISING THE JOINT DECLARATION AND ITS ASSOCIATED ANNEXES, WAS EVENTUALLY NEGOTIATED, SIGNED AND HAS JUST BEEN RATIFIED. THE AUTONOMY ROUTE WILL BE A DIFFICULT ROUTE TO TRAVERSE AND WOULD BE SO EVEN IF IT WAS NOT SUCH A UNIQUE SOLUTION TO SUCH A UNIQUE PROBLEM (IN OTHER WORDS, EVEN IF THERE WAS CASE LAW TO GUIDE ALL CONCERNED). SPECIFICALLY. THE AUTONOMY ROUTE WILL INVOLVE CONVERTING THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT OF HONG KONG - COMPRISED AS IT IS OF CERTAIN FORMAL INSTRUMENTS INTERPRETED IN PRACTICE OVER MANY YEARS BY A COMPLEX OF CONVENTIONS AND PRACTICES, WRITTEN AND UNWRITTEN INTO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HONG KONG SAR. THE SMOOTH REMOVAL OF THE BRITISH LINK AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN 'AUTONOMOUS', YET NOT INDEPENDENT' GOVERNMENT WILL NOT BE EASY AND ALL THE PREPARATIONS FOR THIS HAVE TO BE PUT IN HAND AT THE SAME TIME AS THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT IS OBLIGATED TO CONTINUE TO MANAGE THE PLACE EFFECTIVELY AND THAT CANNOT BE ACHIEVED SIMPLY VIA DECLARATIONS OF INTENT. A CREDIBLE REGIME MUST BE MAINTAINED MEANWHILE AND ALL PARTIES CONCERNED MUST BE SUPPORTIVE OF IT.

+WHILST THE POLICIES TO BE PURSUED BY THE SAR GOVERNMENT ARE LAID DOWN IN FAIRLY CLEAR TERMS IN ANNEX II TO THE AGREEMENT, THERE IS RELATIVE SILENCE ON THE STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT AND ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK WHICH WILL SECURE HONG KONG AS A CAPITALIST ENCLAVE WITHIN THE SOCIALIST MOTHERLAND. YET THIS CONVERSION EXERCISE CANNOT WAIT UPON THE PROMULGATION OF THE BASIC LAW IN 1990 OR THEREABOUTS. WE MUST BEGIN NOW TO DEVISE A STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT AND SEE THAT IT IS FIRMLY ESTABLISHED DURING THE NEXT FEW YEARS IN ORDER TO FACILITATE A SMOOTH TRANSITION FROM HONG KONG'S PRESENT STATUS AS A BRITISH COLONY TO THAT OF A SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION OF CHINA.

/+ALTHOUGH THE