TNAG-2118-FCO40-3024-Future-of-Hong-Kong-general-1990 — Page 17

But

who will be in a position to exercise physical

and political control over the territory. their commitment to the maintenance of lawful, liberal, capitalist government in Hong Kong is supported by the precise terms of the Joint Declaration, which amounts to a formally binding international obligation, to be complied with

for the next half century.

This overlong review of the diversity of Britain's constitutional experience, in parts of the Commonwealth as well as in the European Community, should serve, I hope, to illustrate the almost infinitely flexible scope of British constitutional experience on which we may draw in seeking to shape, for the years ahead, the crucially important structure of the European

Communities.

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