that this is something we shall continue to do. We very much hope it will
be possible to reach agreement on the issues which are in dispute at the
moment. If that cannot be done then there are certain administrative
responsibilities to which I have referred already, but these parameters
will I am sure continue to guide us.
67.
We have discussed at some length whether or not British policy
may or may not be adhering to the Joint Declaration, the Basic Law and
Exchange of Letters, and obviously it is the Government's position that it
is. What about the Chinese? Does anything that they have done so far
broken their adherence to these three sets of documents?
(Mr Chamberlain) I think there is one area which does cause us
concern, and that is the enormous backlog which is building up in the
rather technical area of negotiations in the Joint Liaison Group,
concerning legislation and international treaties.
68.
You are saying they are really obliged by the Joint
Declaration as Mr Hum has indicated, to co-operate in the necessary
administration of the territory, and if they do not by not agreeing with
the JLG, a matter about which we did hear when in Hong Kong, they are not
really fulfilling the terms of the Declaration?
(Mr Chamberlain)
That is certainly the case, yes.
Chairman: That seems to be an important conclusion indeed and one
which we should treat very carefully.
Sir John Stanley
69.
On the question of the Chinese degree of compliance, could you
clarify one point that I think Mr Chamberlain made earlier on? I got the
impression from what you said that you were stating the Chinese Government
in your view had not yet put forward a series of counter proposals which
they would regard as being in accordance with the Sino-British Declaration
17
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.