22 March 1989)
[Chairman Contd]
THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
RT HON SIR GEOFFREY HOWE, QC, MR ROBIN MCLAREN, CMG, and Mr Alan PAUL
that Hong Kong should participate in GATT after 1997 under the Chinese umbrella, and despite the fact that China at the time had not resumed her place in GATT, and still has not done so, we were able to secure eventual agreement from the Chinese to our proposals at the third meeting of the JLG. So that is one example of a very tenacious and specific negotiation. Another, which I will not give you detail about, was the establishment of a framework for the payment of a modern, enhanced package of pension benefits to the Civil Service. We needed to safeguard those rights, which you can well understand. Again initially the Chinese were unconvinced of the case there but after we had carefully explained our proposals and their implications they eventually agreed in full to our proposals, but not until the fifth meeting of the JLG. One that is continuing and is of great import- ance is in relation to air service agreements. In the Joint Declaration we secured the right for Hong Kong to negotiate and conclude ASAs on its own behalf after July 1997. We subsequently agreed with the Chinese in the JLG that Hong Kong could conclude ASAs before 1997 because it is important, in our judgement, for Hong Kong as a major econ- omic, financial and trading centre to have a civil aviation industry that can respond rapidly to the changing developments in the world aviation industry and in that part of the world. So far we have four ASAs in place with the Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland and Brunei. Getting those agreements has involved very complicated and detailed negotiations. There are a further 20 British ASAS containing routes which include Hong Kong which will require separation out, as well as additional Hong Kong ASAs which we shall be continuing to press ahead on. I hope you will for- give the detail but it is an insight into the enormous difficulty of the work that is going on in the JLG.
3. Yes, you are right. Obviously there is a further enormous list of things which the JLG is looking at. One question that interests us is, what about after 1997? Of course, the JLG will go on. How do you see its role shaping after the handover date?
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) As you know, Chairman, the role of the JLG after 1997 continues until I January 2000, so that for the two-and-a-half years after July 1997 the British Government will be in a position, through the JLG, still to monitor and influence the implementation of the Joint Declar- ation. This particular provision for the continu- ation beyond 1997 was something to which the representatives of Hong Kong attached the greatest importance during our negotiations. We wished to establish mirror image going beyond 1997 of a formal joint partnership of this kind and when we succeeded in getting Chinese agreement to that it was probably welcomed by the people of Hong Kong almost more than anything else as a visible demonstration of our continuing commitment to the implementation of the Joint Declaration.
4. Is there any chance that the Joint Liaison Group might go on after that, further into the future?
15
[Continued
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) That has not been suggested, Chairman, and not, I think, canvassed anywhere, but I hope very much that the habit and practice and pattern of the Liaison Group which has been built up over a long period of time will be able to continue in one form or another.
Mr Wells
5. Could I ask about the membership of GATT as an example of the agreements which you have been able to make under the Joint Liaison Group procedure. How long will the agreement for Hong Kong to be independent of China as a member of GATT continue and can it be altered in the future?
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) I think I would need notice of that question. My first impression is that it is intended to continue through the period of the Joint Declaration but maybe Mr McLaren can offer some comment on that.
(Mr McLaren) The Secretary of State is right. Hong Kong is a separate contracting party to the GATT. That has been agreed in the Joint Declar- ation and there is no terminus to that. There is no reason why it should not continue at least as long as the 50-year span covered by the Joint Declaration.
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) It is intended to give an assurance of a continuation of the status that we want and that is the object.
6. Your answer that you understand that this will continue for at least the 50-year period is important because clearly it could be, if we do not have that understanding, your agreements in the Joint Liaison Group are, of course, of very short duration.
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) No. What we are doing in the JLG is filling out, putting flesh, if you like, on the bones of the Joint Declaration to make sure it has substance, that it will endure for at least as long as the Joint Declaration will endure.
Chairman: Paragraph 3.12 of the Joint Declar- ation refers to the question of the shaping of a Basic Law. I wonder if we could concentrate on that for a moment. Mr Rowlands?
Mr Rowlands
7. Secretary of State, the second draft of the Basic Law was issued on 21 February and there is this consultation period now until the end of July, but you make a very important statement in para- graph 42 of your memorandum when you say "Although the drafting of the Basic Law is the responsibility of the Chinese Government, the Bri- tish Government have the right to satisfy them- selves that its provisions fully accord with the terms of the Joint Declaration." I wondered whether you could tell us whether the second draft fulfils the letter and spirit of the Joint Declaration and what your assessment is of the improved draft? (Sir Geoffrey Howe) Let me just amplify a little bit the way in which we propose to satisfy ourselves. As we say in paragraph 42 of the memor- andum, we recognise that the drafting process is being undertaken by a committee of the Chinese
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