XN000022-1995-01-17 — Page 2

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Government response on civil servants in line with Joint Declaration

A Government spokesman today (Tuesday) rejected suggestions appearing in the Hong Kong media that its response to Chinese requests for personal information on civil servants breached the Joint Declaration.

The spokesman said: "The Joint Declaration contains no specific provisions relating to the transfer of information on civil servants. But in accordance with its requirements for closer co-operation in the second half of the transition period, agreement was reached in the Joint Liaison Group in 1990 on the transfer of government archives.

"Career files on serving civil servants are part of the archives and will be dealt with in accordance with that agreement.

"They will not be destroyed, nor removed from the archives before 1997, nor withheld from the Special Administrative Region Government, to whom they will be formally passed through the British and Chinese Governments in 1997. The files will remain in Hong Kong throughout this process."

The spokesman emphasised that over and above the requirements of the agreement on archives, the Hong Kong and British Governments wanted in the run up to 1997 fully to co-operate with the Chinese Government on matters relating to the civil service.

He noted that the Governor had made clear in his LegCo address that "we would provide every possible support to the Chief Executive Designate when he or she is chosen".

The spokesman noted that in response to a Chinese request in the Joint Liaison Group, the Government had already handed over a great deal of information on the civil service to the Chinese side.

This included biographical and establishment details of the Administrative Service, guides on how appointments and promotions were carried out, as well as a comprehensive set of the regulations on which the management of the civil service is based, including the Civil Service Regulations, Financial and Accounting Regulations and disciplinary regulations.

Subsequently, at the Joint Liaison Group 31st meeting in December, the Chinese side had asked for briefings on a number of areas of civil service management. The Hong Kong Government would be happy to provide these to supplement the information already provided, the spokesman added.

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