Governments.
Could you clarify that from your perspective?
(Mr Chamberlain)
Of course I hope everyone has seen this Exchange of
I think on a
Letters which were placed in the Library of the House.
careful reading of them it is quite clear, both from their form and from
their content, that they do not constitute a treaty. They are not drafted
in the same way as say the Joint Declaration. If there is any commitment,
and I say "if" with a big "if", it is a gentlemen's agreement, but as you
will see from the paper we do not accept that there was even a gentleman's
agreement on these matters. I would again stress that for there to be
agreement both sides have to agree that there is an agreement and that is
not the case here.
55.
Letters?
But were there aspects which were agreed with that Exchange of
(Mr Chamberlain)
As part of the general discussion there were points
on which a common position had been reached. For example it was agreed
that the number of directly elected seats in LegCo in 1991 would be 18 and
that the final version of the Basic Law for the first Legislative Council
would provide for 20 directly elected seats and then 24 in 1999 and 30 in
2003. To that extent there was an agreement and indeed this provision is
reflected in the Basic Law or rather the decision of the People's Republic
which is Annex II of the Basic Law. As I say, to that extent there was
agreement, but as for the rest, there were discussions and certainly there
was a tentative agreement reached on certain aspects but the fact is that
these discussions were held in the context of proposals to amend the Basic
Law, which was then in draft form, and that when the Basic Law came finally
to be promulgated it did not take on board for example the agreement on the
five points reached on the Election Committee. The Basic Law is quite
silent on the composition of the first Election Committee for the first
Legislative Council. The conclusion that one can only reach on this
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.