TNAG-2490-FCO40-3622-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Basic-Law-1992 — Page 143

Mr Wye RAD

CONFIDENTIAL

12/1

FROM: P F Ricketts

Hong Kong Department

DATE; 22 October 1992

cc: Mr Hum

Miss Saunders

MIZ BUNTEAD

or

38A

BASIC LAW: THE HISTORY

Many thanks for helping out in yesterday's flurry over the Ministerial exchanges in early 1990 on the Election

1.

Committee.

2. This saga underlines once again our acute lack of collective memory within the Department for anything more distant than about two years. It also confirms our operational need for an account of Sino/British exchanges over the drafting of the Basic Law. I know that you have been working on this as time allows. I think it could now be usefully given high priority, especially if we are going into a period of acrimonious discussions with the Chinese on constitutional issues on which they are going to rely on the negotiating record lying behind the Basic Law.

3°

We would not, for our purposes in the Department, need anything nearly as elaborate as Mr Galsworthy's history of the JD negotiations. But a summary account of the main issues in the Basic Law drafting process and a fuller guide to our exchanges with the Chinese over them, organised by subject, would be extremely valuable.

4.

Any chance of accelerating the production?

PeZabrath

PF Ricketts

CONFIDENTIAL

bl.history.GEN.bern