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necessary after 1991 to meet the Joint
Declaration provision for a legislature
all of whose members are elected.
It is now clear that the Basic Law
will include a substantial directly
elected component in the post-1997
legislature. We have come a long way in
a short time.
And so has the drafting of the Basic
We welcome the close involvement Law.
of Hong Kong people in the process of
drafting and consultation, and we
welcome the steps being taken by the
Chinese Government to seek Hong Kong
opinion.
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The first draft of the Basic Law is
a massive text. It incorporates, as it
should, virtually all the provisions of
the Joint Declaration, often verbatim.
It is not perfect, of course, nor is it
in its final form. But even a few years
ago people would, I think, have been
very surprised to see this kind of text
emerging from a committee appointed by
the Chinese legislature; and surprised
too that the drafting should have been
such an open process, and with such a
high degree of consultation.
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