TNAG-1333-FCO40-1765-Future-of-Hong-Kong-legislation-1985 — Page 263

DRAFT PAPER ON LEGISLATION

INTRODUCTION:

CONFIDF ENTIAL

1. An agreement on the future of Hong Kong with the Chinese

Government has now been initialled. A White Paper including the text of the agreement has been published in Hong Kong and in London. We envisage the following timetable for handling the agreement: -

(a) Assessment of the acceptability of the agreement in Hong Kong, in October and November.

(b) Report by Assessment Office and Monitors at end of November.

(c) Debate in Parliament, in the first week of December.

(d) Signature of agreement, before the end of the year.

(e) Introduction and enactment of legislation in first half of 1985.

(f) Ratification by 30 June 1985.

2.

At Chinese insistence the Joint Declaration states that the

agreement will be ratified by 30 June 1985. It will therefore be

necessary rapidly to prepare legislation for divesting the UK of

sovereignty over the ceded territories in 1997, so that it can be introduced into Parliament as soon as possible after the agreement is signed. The purpose of this paper is to indicate the content and

form of the legislation, which must be enacted before ratification

can take place and to discuss whether other matters in the agreement which require legislation by statute at some stage can usefully be dealt with in the same Bill.

THE AGREEMENT

3.

The documents agreed with the Chinese are :

(a) a Joint Declaration.

CONFIDENTIAL