TNAG-2504-FCO40-3643-National-People-s-Congress-and-Chinese-People-s-Political-Co-1992 — Page 21

布政司署

香港下亞生車道

CONFIDENTIAL

idential

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

11 February 1992

PA SCR 10/1162/88

Our Ref.

米菡檔號 Your Ref.:

HKC 024/1

+R (a photocopy

of this)

2

Nigel Cox Esq

HKD

FCO

from Nigel,

см

1/2

RVCC

as

ref orehun

13/2 an

13/01

4/3

w Bunten, "Miss Saddles or Not altogethe convincing, perhaps. you know what prohitution is alluded to at 'x' ? Let's see if Peking comment then reflect further.

До

Hong Kong Deputies to the NPC and CPPCC

Panuar

I have

Blu & Wes

My thanks for your letter of 20 January. canvassed views here and we all seem to agree with the assessment in para 6 of Rod Wye's minute enclosed with your letter, that were we to raise the matter with the Chinese they would tell us it was none of our business.

7.

Nor is there any great enthusiasm here for having a go anyway. If we were to permit NPC and CPPCC members to stand for Legco in 1995 (I believe we may do this), we could perhaps use this, along with through train arguments, to press for LegCo

But given the election of NPC delegates, if we wanted to. jealousies and in-fighting that would almost certainly be involved, we are doubtful if it would be worth it. least, local politicians are not debating the issue: question of how NPC delegates are to be selected in future is Occasionally raised by interested parties like Liu Yiu-chu.

3.

So far, at

though the

I think the view here is that it will be in Hong Kong's greater interest to keep its political system as separate and distinct as possible from the national structure, which is after all entirely based on the CCP. On a technical point, will the According SAR LegCo equate to a Provincial People's Congress?

to Article 19 of the PRC Constitution these bodies are "local arms of state power" and have, under Article 101 of the Constitution, among other things the power to elect the local Will the head of government (i.e. the provincial governer). Chinese treat the SAR LegCo as constitutionally the same sort of body? Would it wish to be so treated?

4.

a more

I think it might be better if there were transparent system for electing Hong Kong's deputies to the

an

1971

CONFIDENTIAL