TNAG-2785-FCO40-4004-Hong-Kong-UK-Parliamentary-and-other-interest-in-constitutio-1993 — Page 103

HICC ORIS RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

11 FEL 1993

REGISTRY

PA

Action Taken

DESK OFFICER INDEX

The Rt Hon Lord Shawcross GBE QC

60 Victoria Embankment London EC4Y OJP

Foreign & Commonwealth

Office

London SWIA 2AH

From The Minister of State

25 January 1993

Dear Lord Shawcross

Thank you for your letter of 18 December about Hong Kong.

I

Chinese

of

was

agree with you that our present problems with the do not rest on narrow legal points. That said, I accept course Pliny's maxim. The point I was seeking to make that the Governor and his experts in Hong Kong, and we here, very much in mind in drafting his proposals the terms of Joint Declaration,

had

the

with

are

the consistent

the

Law Basic Chinese side. what with

and our

In

view, Our is said in

previous these those

documents.

discussions proposals

you

never

one

The point I was making on the Election Committee (what refer to as the "elite" committee) is that there has

The first before been such a committee in Hong Kong. ever is

electing ten to be constituted for the purpose of

I set out in my members of the 1995 Legislative Council. earlier letter our reasons for believing that the Basic does not lay down the composition of this Election Committee. The Governor therefore had to make proposals.

More generally, let me

reassure

Declaration

continues to and of the Governor.

underpin

you

Law

the Joint

the

he

that

of the

this policy

to agree We will have to Government

process differ on whether we should have embarked on a long

before making of private

with the Chinese consultations public the Governor's proposals. But I think that even Chinese now recognise that the Governor was serious when said that he was putting forward proposals, and was ready to

from alternative

others. Many

such consider alternatives have now come forward. The Legislative Council will have to consider them alongside

It

that they proposals. responsibility for striking the balance.

is

proposals

right

the Governor's should have

the

/We also stand ready to discuss these

SA