TNAG-1748-FCO40-2467-Visit-by-Sir-Geoffrey-Howe--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-a-1988 — Page 62

WOZAGN (3)

CONFIDENTIAL

Background

1. The draft Basic Law was published for five months of public consultation on 28 April. It has already been the focus of great attention in Hong Kong, albeit largely from predictable quarters ("liberals", pressure groups). A large number of copies of the draft have been circulated, but it appears that the majority of ordinary people are not displaying great interest in the draft.

2. The draft is broadly as we had expected. The Chinese appear to have taken on board a number of our points, principally passed to

them through the legal experts' channel. There are certain defects, but the draft contains very few articles which obviously contravene, or which could arguably be said to be inconsistent with, the Joint

Declaration.

In a number of key areas (eg the formation of the first SAR Government (see separate brief), the selection of the Chief Executive, the composition of the legislature), there is a range of options in the draft, indicating that there is still room

for discussion.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

3.

During the five month period of public consultation in Hong Kong, the gathering of public opinion will be handled by the Basic

Law Consultative Committee (BLCC). There will be visits to Hong Kong by mainland BLDC members in two batches in June and September to listen to Hong Kong opinion. A separate visit to Hong Kong by Ji Pengfei, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Office of the State Council, is also planned for the beginning of June.

4.

The Chinese authorities are committed to listening to opinions from all sectors of society, including Government officials in their personal capacities, and LegCo, District Boards etc. On the latter, however, the BLCC has taken a restrictive position, stating publicly that views from these bodies will not be accepted formally but should be passed through diplomatic channels.

There may

be room for flexibility, but it will in any case be open to us to forward records (eg the LegCo Hansard or DB minutes) to the Chinese authorities through our own channels. Given their general

CONFIDENTIAL