TNAG-2168-FCO40-3105-House-of-Commons-Foreign-Affairs-Committee-inquiry-into-Hong-1990 — Page 215

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PS

CONFIDENTIAL

Ако

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RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

16 APR 1990

DESK OFFICER INDEX

REGISTRY

PA

Action Taken

17

FROM: PS/Mr Maude

DATE: 8 May 1990

cc: PS/PUS

Mr McLaren

Mr Fifoot, Legal Advisers Mr Paul, HKD

Mr Colvin, SEAD

Mr Davies, FED

Mr Whitehead, News Dept Miss Bailey, PRU

Special Advisers

FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: REPORT ON HONG KONG: GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

1.

(16

Mr Maude is generally content with the draft reply submitted by Miss Marsden on 4 May, subject to the specific comments below and a few manuscript amendments. He is relaxed about deferring publication until 6 June; that would enable us to say more about Guam, and would mean that the Tiananmen anniversaries would be out of the way.

Mr Maude

2.

i)

has the following specific comments:

Para 5, penultimate sentence. He understood that the Basic Law would only fall to be interpreted by the NPC in certain circumstances, eg if a particular provision is disputed in litigation, and that there would not be a right for the NPC to proffer its own interpretation spontaneously.

draw it out.

ii)

If this is so, we should

Para 22, last sentence.

Mr Maude wonders whether

"35% of chartered surveyors" should read "85%".

iii) Para 33, last sentence. Mr Maude thinks that we might want to add in some detail about Guam later.

Nicola Brewer

Nicola Brewer

Private Secretary to Mr Francis Maude

CONFIDENTIAL