CONFIDENTIAL
XCX(91)61
8
"The majority of Members feel that there is now limited flexibility with the composition of the Court of Final Appeal as agreed between the British and Chinese Governments and that there should be more flexibility in accordance with the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
The majority of Members also feel that the Court of Final Appeal should be set up by 1993 as scheduled."
Mr Simon Ip, the LegCo representative of the legal functional constituency, is understood to want to put down a motion on the CFA for debate on 4 December, right in the middle of JLG XXI to be held in Hong Kong. The wording of the motion is not yet known but is likely to urge the Administration to provide more flexibility in the composition of the CFA than is available in the JLG agreement.
The Reaction from the Chinese Side
9
The Chinese side has reacted strongly to any suggestion of re- opening the JLG agreement on the CFA. Commentaries in the left-wing papers and comments of Chinese officials in their contacts with UK and Hong Kong officials indicate that they strongly suspect that the British and Hong Kong Governments are behind the local attacks on the JLG agreement. They have told us privately, as well as saying publicly, that they will not in any circumstances be prepared to re-open the question of the composition of the Court. Most recently, Mr Guo Fengmin told Mr Galsworthy this categorically on 19 November. Mr Lu Ping has told Sir Robin McLaren, Her Majesty's Ambassador to Peking, that the agreement reached in the JLG should be respected and put into effect. If it was not, he said that he did not see how the JLG could continue its work. The Chinese regard the CFA agreement as an agreement endorsed by the Chinese and British Governments at the highest level (prime ministerial), and not to be varied by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
10
On 11 November a long article by Mr Wu Jianfan, member of the Basic Law Drafting Committee and one of the Chinese experts who took part in the negotiations on the CFA, appeared in Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao. A copy of the article with translation, together with a summary of the main points, is at Annex C. We believe that Mr Wu's article is a full statement of the Chinese position on the CFA agreement. It stresses that the agreement is consistent with the JD and the Basic Law (BL); that any
Executive Council
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.