CONFIDENTIAL
17.
There is no evidence that public interest in changes to the
composition of the Executive Council is
is any greater than in 1984.
If anything, there seems to be a greater recognition of the need to
maintain a strong executive capable of providing firm leadership and
efficient administration.
The Problem of Compatibility
18.
The Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong and its
first Annex contain а number of general provisions about the
structure and operation of the
the future SAR government. Those most
relevant to the present paper are that the SAR's legislature will be
composed of local inhabitants and constituted by elections. (The
form of election is not stated.) The Joint Declaration also provides
that the policies which it states will be stipulated in the Basic
Law of the Hong Kong SAR.
19.
The drafting of the Basic Law is now under way. Formally
speaking this is a matter for the Chinese Government. They have
established а Basic Law Drafting Committee (BLDC) (including Hong
Kong members representing a broad spectrum of views) which has in
turn created sub-groups to study certain aspects of the draft law.
The Chinese have also set up a Basic Law
Law Consultative Committee
(BLCC) in Hong Kong to reflect Hong Kong opinion to the BLDC.
20.
If we are to achieve a smooth transfer of government in
1997, as the Joint Declaration commits us to do, it is clear that
there must be compatibility (or "convergence")
between the
government structure as it continues to evolve up to 1997 and the
government structure for the Hong Kong SAR as this is described
in
the Basic Law. If convergence cannot be achieved there will be a
disruptive break in 1997 and/or open conflict between the British
and Chinese governments before 1997, with potentially disastrous results for the stability of Hong Kong.
21.
The general problem is compounded by particular
complications of timing over the next two years.
The review to be
conducted by the Hong Kong Government during 1987 will address the further development of representative government. We are committed
CONFIDENTIAL
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