TNAG-2991-FCO40-3566-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-1992 — Page 171

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MDLIAN 6932)

LAWS ENACTED IN THE TRANSITION WERE CONSISTENT WITH THE BL: AND

(F) TO DRAW UP MEASURES TO COMBAT HIGH INFLATION IN ORDER TO PRESERVE HONG KONG'S STATUS AS AN INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL AND TRADING CENTRE.

4. REMARKS BY OTHER MAINLAND BASIC LAW DRAFTERS WERE ALSO WIDELY REPORTED. WANG SHUWEN, A CHINESE LEGAL EXPERT, CRITICISED THAT THE BILL OF RIGHTS ORDINANCE AND THE LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENTS TO RESTRICT ICAC AND POLICE POWERS WERE INCONSISTENT WITH THE JD AND THE BL. ON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE TERM 'EXISTING' OR 'PREVIOUS' IN THE BL, WU JIANFAN, ANOTHER CHINESE LEGAL EXPERT, POINTED OUT THAT THE REFERENCE POINT SHOULD BE THE TIME WHEN THE JD WAS SIGNED, I.E. 1984. THE VIEW THAT HONG KONG LAWS AND SYSTEMS COULD BE FREELY AMENDED OR MODIFIED BEFORE 1997 WAS THUS A MISCONCEPTION.

5. YONG LONGGUI, LEADER OF CHINESE TEAM IN THE AIRPORT TALKS, REFERRED TO THE PRINCIPLE OF KEEPING EXPENDITURE WITHIN LIMITS OF REVENUE (BL 107) AND WARNED THAT IT WOULD NOT BE IN THE ECONOMIC INTERESTS OF HONG KONG IF THE HKG WERE TO RELINQUISH THIS PRINCIPLE. AS REGARDS POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT, XIAO WEIYUN OF THE BEIJING UNIVERSITY LAW FACULTY POINTED OUT THAT IN ORDER TO ENSURE CONVERGENCE WITH THE BL, THERE SHOULD NOT BE MAJOR CHANGES IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE AND THE JUDICIARY DURING THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD.

6. EIGHT HONG KONG DRAFTERS SPOKE AT THE SYMPOSIUM. APART FROM THE GENERAL THEMES OF CONVERGENCE AND PUBLICITY OF THE BL, A NUMBER OF THEM EXPRESSED CONCERN OVER RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LEGCO, WHICH HAMPERED THE EFFICIENCY AND MORALE OF THE HKG AND WOULD THEREFORE BE INCONSISTENT WITH THE EXECUTIVE-LED POLITICAL SYSTEM AS LAID DOWN IN THE BL. DOROTHY LIU, IN PARTICULAR, URGED THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT TO PUT IN PLACE A SET OF CONTINGENCY MEASURES IN CASE THROUGH TRAIN' COULD NOT BE CARRIED OUT.

7. LU PING WAS REPORTED TO HAVE TOLD THE PRESS AFTER THE SYMPOSIUM THAT THE RESULT OF BRITAIN'S FORTHCOMING ELECTION SHOULD NOT HAVE MAJOR EFFECT ON HONG KONG AS TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS WERE CLEARLY LAID DOWN IN THE JD. HE ALSO RESTATED THE CHINESE POSITION THAT ANY AMENDMENT TO THE BL BEFORE 1997 WAS OUT OF THE QUESTION. HE SAID: 'SUCH A MOVE WOULD BE ILLEGAL AND

WE CERTAINLY DON'T WANT TO DO ANYTHING THAT IS AGAINST THE LAW'. REFERRING TO THE FACT THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE NOT SATISFIED

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