TNAG-1754-FCO40-2474-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-debates-1988 — Page 248

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. 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.

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

There are certain defects, them through the legal experts' channel. 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, the selection of the Chief Executive, the composition of the legislature (see separate brief), 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 to listen to Hong Kong opinion. The first group, including senior officials Li Hou and Lu Ping, visited Hong Kong in June. The second group will visit in September. Ji Pengfei, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Office of the State Council, also visited Hong Kong in early June.

4.

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

We have indicated should be passed through diplomatic channels.

that we will forward records (eg the LegCo Hansard or DB minutes) to

The Chinese side the Chinese authorities through our own channels. have not commented on this.

CONFIDENTIAL