On 26th September 1984, the draft Agreement between the
United Kingdom and China was initialed. In Annex 1 to the draft
Agreement the Government of the People's Republic of China
elaborated on its basic policies regarding Hong Kong and in
Section I thereof
reiterated that the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region "shall enjoy a high degree of autonomy" and
declared that the "government and legislature of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region shall be composed of local
inhabitants", that the "legislature of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region shall be constituted by elections" and that
"the executive authorities shall abide by the law and shall be
accountable to the legislature".
After the initialling ceremony, the Governor of Hong
Kong, Sir Edward Youde, flew back to the Colony to preside over a
special session of the Legislative Council.
He told the
Legislative Council that Her Majesty's Government and the
Executive Council of Hong Kong believed the draft Agreement to be
one which they could commend to the people of Hong Kong as a
sound basis for their future. In his address, he declared that
the provisions of the draft Agreement "will allow scope for the
development of Hong Kong's governmental system as the years
progress. As you know, our objective in the years immediately
ahead is to use that process to root political power in the
community where it belongs.
The Hong Kong government then announced the setting up
of an Assessment Office, which was given two months in which to
determine if the draft Agreement were acceptable to the people of
Hong Kong.
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