Much work remains to be done to ensure that that faith
is not misplaced. The Sino-British Joint Declaration was
not the end of the story, but the beginning. The task since 1984 for China and Britain, and for Hong Kong itself has been to implement its provisions. The work of implementing the Joint Declaration falls principally into two areas of activity the Sino-British Joint liaison Group and the drafting of the Basic Law.
It
The Joint Liaison Group (JLG) comprises British and Chinese officials, with team leaders of Ambassador rank.
meets in plenary session three times a year; and there is an
impressive range of subsidiary activity. Its work tends not to capture headlines, but it is vital to the success of the Joint Declaration. And it has been going well. Negotiations are often complex and hard-fought; but so far we have always managed to agree on arrangements we need to
secure Hong Kong's future. It is in the JLG that we have
agreed that Hong Kong should become a separate contracting
party to the GATT (as it then did in 1986) and remain so
after 1997; that Hong Kong should remain a member of the
Asian Development Bank, and many other international
organisations; that Hong Kong should set up its own shipping register; that Hong Kong should introduce a modernised pension scheme for its civil servants; and that Hong Kong should be able to negotiate its own extradition arrangements with foreign jurisdiction. The JLG has also agreed on transitional arrangements for travel and identity documents over the 1997 barrier and on a separate system of Air Service Agreements between Hong Kong and foreign countries travel, of course, being a vital aspect of Hong Kong's way
of life.
Discussions continue in the JLG on several other
issues, and there will be many more to deal with before
1997. And the JLG will continue in existence for two and a
half years after the transfer of sovereignty, until 1
January 2000; so that Britain and China will be able to sort
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