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Statement on Court of Final Appeal Agreement

In response to media enquiries, a government spokesman today (Sunday) described criticisms of the Court of Final Appeal Agreement made by Mr Martin Lee in his "Letter to Hong Kong" broadcast on RTHK as deliberately misleading and damaging to confidence in Hong Kong's future.

The spokesman said: "Mr Lee once again completely distorts the CFA agreement by claiming that it 'creates a hole in the Common Law' and 'accepts Beijing's meaning of the term acts of state'. This is a red herring and Mr Lee knows it - or, at least as a lawyer, he should know it.

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"The agreement does no more than acknowledge the fact that from 1 July, 1997 the Basic Law will be the law of Hong Kong, and that the CFA will be subject to įt. That has been the case since the Basic Law was promulgated in 1990, and the CFA agreement does nothing to alter that fact - nor, indeed, could it do so.

"It is also nonsense to suggest that the CFA agreement is a 'rotten deal' for the local and international business community. The agreement has been unanimously welcomed by both the local and international business communities, as indeed it has been welcomed by the governments of the United States, Japan, the European Union, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea.

"Further, it is highly damaging to Hong Kong's reputation abroad and to investor confidence to link the CFA agreement with Hong Kong companies shifting their legal domiciles to other countries when few, if any, such companies would have done so since the agreement was announced a month ago, and set against the unanimous endorsement of agreement by the local and international business communities."

Finally, the spokesman said it was astonishingly eccentric leap of logic for Mr Lee to accuse the government of entering secret negotiations while attacking the Governor and the administration for working over time to 'sell the agreement'.

"The CFA agreement is good for Hong Kong and good for the rule of law It buttresses the rule of law in Hong Kong by ending the uncertainty about the establishment of the court and by providing continuity beyond 1997," the spokesman said.