TNAG-1839-FCO40-2614-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 73

IX:

Basic Law

31.

Paragraph 3(12) of the Joint Declaration provides

that the policies of China towards Hong Kong will be

stipulated in a Basic Law and shall remain unchanged for

The Basic Law will be enacted and promulgated

by the Standing Committee of the National People's

50 years.

Congress.

32.

For the purpose of drafting the Basic Law, the

Chinese Government appointed a Basic Law Drafting

Committee (BLDC), comprising mainland as well as Hong

Kong members. A Basic Law Consultative Committee (BLCC),

consisting exclusively of Hong Kong members representing

a broad spectrum of Hong Kong opinion, was established to

solicit the views of Hong Kong people on the draft Basic

Law.

33. After more than two years of deliberation by the

BLDC, the first draft of the Basic Law, called "The Draft

Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

of the People's Republic of China (For Solicitation of

Opinions)" was published in April 1988 subsequent to its

endorsement at the seventh plenum of the BLDC. A

five-month consultation exercise, conducted by the BLCC,

was then held in Hong Kong. Two delegations of mainland

members of the BLDC, led by senior Chinese officials,

visited Hong Kong in June and September to canvass public

opinion on the Draft Basic Law at first hand.