JA1ALL
FILE NOTE
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14 AUG 1985
pa
CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN HONG KONG
BU
m
(168)
Powell
The-
noted
Lafit
to ofor Pomel
F....
04
3/9/85
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 i t at the Drafting Committee meeting on
July. Mr Cha had three concerns:
a)
he
b)
c)
3.
This
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 those areas where the SAR
would run its own affairs independent of Peking after
1997. 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.
that although the idea of the council of advisers
was
might appear to be daft in western eyes, it was very Chinese.
It had its parallel in the Central Advisory Commission of the
Chinese communist party, headed by Deng Xiaoping. I t was an
attempt to provide an acceptable form of Asian democracy.
Mr
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