TNAG-1846-FCO40-2621-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 101

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CONFIDENTIAL

FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ENQUIRY INTO HONG KONG:

INFORMAL BRIEFING SESSION, 6 APRIL: SUMMARY RECORD

Present:

Mr David Howell (Chairman)

Mr Peter Shore

Mr Ian Taylor

Mr Bowen Wells

Mr Mick Welsh

Mr Ivan Lawrence

Mr Michael Jopling

Mr Robert Wilson }

Mr Mark Hutton }

Mr Philip Moon }

Clerks to the

Committee

Mr McLaren

Mr Fifoot

Mr Paul

Miss Marsden

Mr Wood

Mr Footman

Miss Bailey

Relationship between HMG and the Hong Kong Government

1. At the Chairman's request, Mr McLaren outlined the relationship

between HMG and the Hong Kong Government and the extent of the

autonomy at present enjoyed by the Hong Kong Government, explaining that over the years, the trend had been for Hong Kong's autonomy to

increase.

Powers of the Chief Executive/Removal of the Chief Executive

2.

Reverting to one of the themes raised with the Secretary of

State on 22 March, Mr Bowen Wells asked a series of questions about

smooth transfer of government in 1997: how to preserve the key features of Hong Kong's system of Government as it worked in practice; how to avoid the risk that the powers of the Chief Executive could become politically oppressive under the post-1997 regime when the backstop of the FCO and the Westminster Parliament fell away; and whether this argued for increasing the powers of the legislature to control the Executive. Mr Bowen Wells pointed out

that whereas HMG's power to remove the Governor was what ultimately commanded compliance with the Letters Patent, the question of

CONFIDENTIAL