agreement on this issue.
The question of abolishing appointed
members also remains unsolved. Time has now run out for
pursuing these points. The Governor has therefore announced that he will publish draft legislation on the 10th of this
month, for introduction on the 15th of this month. That will allow work to begin straight away in a Bill Committee of the Legislative Council.
The proposals on which the Governor intends to legislate this month are largely uncontroversial in Hong Kong. We had
On a
thought that they were uncontroversial with China.
number of them it was possible to reach a common view in the
talks. In those cases, the legislation will reflect that. The Governor is not at this stage legislating on the main issues which remain in dispute the Functional
Constituencies, the composition of the Election Committee, and objective criteria for the through train.
We are not breaking off the talks. we have proposed a further Round in December to pursue agreement on the remaining issues. We are prepared to work seriously and constructively to that
end. We strongly hope that the talks will continue in spite of what has been said because Britain and China have to carry
out what they agreed I repeat, what they agreed which is,
to preserve Hong Kong's way of life and success while transferring sovereignty. We all know that that is a unique
task and one that we have not had to do in this form before. It is also difficult, and it is best carried out together.
The Joint Declaration makes clear the fundamental British
responsibility up to the middle of 1997. We and the Governor are committed to working with China in the interests of Hong Kong, and we look for corresponding commitment from their
side.
oralstatement25.11/BRIEFS/NJH
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