establish facts which are matters essentially within his own knowledge and a basis for belief is such a matter.
(d)
...
if at
Legislation of this kind is not necessary any future time an emergency necessitated the introduction of such a measure it could be done relatively simply (eg under the existing Emergency Regulations)
I think that to a large extent we must leave it to Hong Kong's legislators to decide whether legislation is necessary in Hong Kong's particular circumstances of Hong Kong which is a very small and densely populated territory. The point about using emergency legislation to cope with an emergency has some weight, but in these particular circumstances it would seem reasonable to try to avoid a situation where the risk of disorder might be present. Hong Kong's Emergency Regulations are, as the title implies, not normally in force. They are only brought in if a state of emergency is declared, an extreme situation which we and the Hong Kong Government would always wish to do all we reasonably could to avoid.
You are right of course in observing that it has long been our policy to allow the Hong Kong Government to handle their own affairs in a considerable measure. We are nevertheless monitoring the situation carefully and are of course in close touch with the new Governor on all current developments in the territory. You are also correct in saying that it remains open to a future Legislative Council to review the operation of the new provisions whenever it wishes. Indeed the Hong Kong Chief Secretary stated in the Legislative Council debate on 11 March that the Hong Kong Government would carefully monitor the situation and review the provision in the light of experience. This strikes me as a very fair position for the Hong Kong Government to have taken on this issue.
Что
Trima
Tim Renton
Sir Peter Blaker KCMG MP
House of Commons
LONDON
SWIA OAA
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