TNAG-1331-FCO40-1758-Future-of-Hong-Kong-test-of-the-acceptability-of-the-Joint-D-1984 — Page 158

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CONFIDENTIAL

Not nee!

3.

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to make. The difficulty is likely to lie in the requirement for the Monitors to provide their own independent report on whether the Assessment Office has "accurately" discharged its duties meaning, in this context, the Commissioner's "overall assessment of the extent of acceptance by the people of Hong Kong of the draft Agreement". The Monitors have to avoid any kind of counter-assessment of "the extent of acceptance"; but, at the same time, they will clearly have to provide their own judgment on whether the Commissioner's assessment is "accurate" in the light of the evidence of the direct and indirect letters and submissions received by the Assessment Office.

As a basis for discussion, and subject to the views of Mr. Justice Li, I suggest that it may be best for the Monitors to see drafts of the chapters of the AO report at the stage when they are being considered by the Commissioner himself. It will be open to the Monitors to make comments and suggestions, as they have been doing so far as part of their Monitoring role, but to avoid offering drafting suggestions. The Monitors will be drafting their own report in parallel with the Commissioner. They may wish to clear any factual elements with the Assessment Office for the purpose of ensuring accuracy, but they would not otherwise show their draft to the Commissioner. They would, however, indicate to the Commissioner probably at the stage of monitoring the final draft of the AO report any significant points of criticism they were considering including in their own independent report.

4.

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Turning to the FCO's telegram of suggestions,

the following points occur to me:

(a)

It will be important for the opening chapter to explain fully the careful modus operandi adopted. It may also be important to include in this chapter some explanation of the way in which the views of the people of Hong Kong were invited and the range of factors likely to condition the response of individual people and organisations in Hong Kong. Will the opening chapter refer to the Monitoring Team, as the report on the Green Paper consultation did in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the Preface ?