CONFIDENTIAL
9. The first is that the Joint Declaration and Annexes
together constitute a legally binding international
agreement. As the Chinese Foreign Minister recently said, the Joint Declaration is a form of international treaty and
has the same force
force in international law.
10.
Secondly, under the terms of the agreement itself the policies set out in the agreement will be stipulated in a Basic Law to be promulgated by the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China: and they will remain unchanged for fifty years from 1 July 1997.
11.
Thirdly, the agreement contains a sufficient degree of detail to reassure opinion in Hong Kong and internationally about the future of the terrritory.
CONFIDENTIAL
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