TNAG-1355-FCO40-1796-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 142

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3/9/55

1. Mr Hal Miller MP rang me on 13 August to discuss the paper submitted by Mr Cha Jimin to the Basic Law Drafting Committee which contains his proposals for the structure of government of

the SAR.

2. Mr Miller said

been well received.

that Mr Cha considered his paper to have

The Drafting Committee had circulated it

and he had spoken to it at the Drafting Committee meeting on 5 July. Mr Cha had three concerns:

a)

b)

c)

3.

he wanted to see stability preserved in Hong Kong. His proposal for

a council of advisers was designed to ensure

that a measure of appointments continued after the

institution of elections in Hong Kong;

he had proposed the creation of the post of Chief

Minister, separate from that of a "Governor" which would

continue to exist, in order to provide Hong Kong with a

high measure of autonomy in

would run its own affairs

1997.

those are as where the SAR

independent of Peking after

Those areas which we re to be the prerogative of

Peking (according to Cha diplomatic and defence affairs,

security, anti-corruption, civil service, and police) would remain in the province of the Governor;

Mr Cha was

concerned about how ideas such as his would be

taken into account in the 1987 review on constitutional

development.

Mr Miller said that Cha had made one other comment to him.

This was that although the idea of the council of advisers

might appear to be daft in western eyes, it was very Chinese.

It had its parallel in the Central Advisory Commission of the

Chinese

attempt

communist party, headed by Deng Xiaoping.

communist

It was an

to provide an acceptable form of Asian democracy. Mr

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