TNAG-1839-FCO40-2614-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 108

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PRESS NOTICE NO 3

PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING THE SINO-BRITISH AGREEMENT OF 1984 ON HONG KONG

The House of Commons has expressed a continuing interest in the developments in Hong Kong following Parliamentary approval on 5 December 1984 of the Agreement between the Chinese and British Governments. The Foreign Affairs Committee has decided as part of its continuing responsibility in the field of foreign affairs to undertake an inquiry into progress in implementing the Agreement.

The Committee intends to report to the House on

the British Government's role in implementing the Sino-British Joint Declaration including preparations for a smooth transfer of government;

progress in discussions with the Chinese Government over implementation of the Joint Declaration and related issues; and

- the British Government's responsibility for the administration of Hong Kong up to 30 June 1997.

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The Committee aims to begin the inquiry with evidence from Sir Geoffrey Howe, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on Wednesday 22 March at 10.30 am. It hopes to conclude the inquiry in time to agree a Report to the House of Commons which would be published before the end of July.

The Committee will visit Hong Kong from 17-22 April and Beijing from 22-25 April. During its stay in Hong Kong it intends to take evidence in public and on the record. Further details of the visit will be announced in due course.

Written submissions to the Committee are invited from all interested parties and may be made in either English or Chinese. It is not however, the practice of Select Committees to inquire into individual cases. Such submissions should be addressed to Mr Philip Moon, Foreign Affairs Committee, Committee Office, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA, UK, and should arrive by Friday 31 March 1989. (Please note that this is a later deadline than that in the press release of 19 January).

Note: The Foreign Affairs Committee is one of 14 Select (ie investigative) Committees of the House of Commons appointed "to examine the expenditure, administration and policy" of government departments, in this case the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Overseas Development Administration. The Committee chooses its own programme of work (since its appointment in the new Parliament in December 1987 it has covered Famine in Africa; UK policy towards the Iran-Iraq Conflict; the Political Impact of the Process of Arms Control and Disarmament; and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union) and issues Reports to the House to which the Government has to reply. The Committee has 7 Conservative and 4 Labour Members, all of whom are 'backbenchers'. Its Chairman is the Rt Hon David Howell MP.

15 February 1989