XN000022-1993-03-22 — Page 9

MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1993

HE SAID BRITAIN HAD EXTENDED TO HONG KONG IT'S RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS UNDER MORE THAN 200 MULTILATERAL TREATIES.

THESE

TREATIES

COULD CONVENIENTLY BE DIVIDED

INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL

INTO

ABOUT 20

CATEGORIES, INCLUDING: CUSTOMS ARRANGEMENTS, TRADE AND COMMERCE, MERCHANT SHIPPING, POSTAL REGULATIONS,

INTERNATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS, AVIATION.

CRIME, AND CIVIL

IN THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION THE TWO GOVERNMENTS AGREED IN PRINCIPLE THAT THESE INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS COULD CONTINUE IN FORCE IN HONG KONG AFTER 1997.

THERE WERE ALSO OVER 180 BILATERAL TREATIES WHICH BRITISH

TO EXTENDED

HONG KONG, COVERING SUCH IMPORTANT MATTERS AS AIR SERVICES, EXTRADITION, ENFORCEMENT OF CIVIL JUDGMENTS, VISA REQUIREMENTS, AND INVESTMENT PROTECTION.

WITH

"WE HAVE DECIDED, IN AGREEMENT WITH THE CHINESE SIDE AND THE AUTHORITY OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, THAT THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT SHOULD ITSELF EMBARK UPON A PROGRAMME OF NEGOTIATING AND CONCLUDING ITS OWN BILATERAL INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS WITH RELEVANT COUNTRIES, MR MATHEWS SAID.

||

THE POSITION TO DATE WAS THAT THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT HAD SIGNED EIGHT SEPARATE AIR SERVICES AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTS INCLUDING: THE NETHERLANDS, SWITZERLAND, CANADA, AND FRANCE.

SIX AGREEMENTS HAD BEEN INITIALLED AND A NUMBER OF OTHERS WERE IN THE COURSE OF NEGOTIATION,

THE

IN THE AREA OF EXTRADITION, OR THE SURRENDER OF FUGITIVE OFFENDERS, MR MATHEWS SAID HONG KONG HAD SO FAR INITIALLED AGREEMENTS, WITH CANADA, AUSTRALIA AND MALAYSIA AND HAD SIGNED AGREEMENT WITH NETHERLANDS. NEGOTIATIONS WERE CONTINUING WITH SEVERAL OTHER COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES, SINGAPORE AND INDIA.

"WE ARE LOOKING FOR A TOTAL OF ABOUT 20 BILATERAL AGREEMENTS ON THE SURRENDER OF FUGITIVE OFFENDERS THAT CAN REMAIN IN FORCE AFTER 1997.

H

HE SAID ANOTHER IMPORTANT AREA WAS THE NETWORK OF BRITISH BILATERAL

OF COVERING THE RECIPROCAL AGREEMENTS

ENFORCEMENT

COURT JUDGMENTS IN CIVIL AND COMMERCIAL MATTERS.

"WE NEED то ESTABLISH OUR OWN NETWORK OF FREE-STANDING AGREEMENTS THAT WILL SURVIVE 1997, AND THESE ARE UNDER CONSIDERATION IN THE JOINT LIAISON GROUP.

ALSO UNDER CONSIDERATION WAS A PROPOSAL FOR A BILATERAL VISA ABOLITION AGREEMENTS WITH RELEVANT COUNTRIES.

NUMBER

OF

HE

AND

ON BILATERAL INVESTMENT PROMOTION AND PROTECTION AGREEMENTS, SAID SINCE LATE 1991 THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT HAD NEGOTIATED INITIALLED NINE AGREEMENTS WITH THE GOVERNMENTS OF COUNTRIES WHOSE COMPANIES AND INSTITUTIONS WERE MAJOR INVESTORS IN HONG KONG,

"THESE INITIALLED