TNAG-2991-FCO40-3566-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-1992 — Page 203

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CHINESE LANGUAGE DIVISION

produced through a bicameral system.

317 F34

The authority of the present Legislative Council comes from

the British Crown but authority after 1997 will come from the

Basic Law. The biggest difference lies in the fact that a high

degree of autonomy is out of

out of the question under the present

SAR a high degree of autonomy of the arrangement whereas

guaranteed by the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic

Bs a fact ? (More Conccté, Can a guarante

Law.

is

Insofar as the transitional period is concerned, in the Sino-

British Joint Declaration, Britain pledged to the Chinese side

that Hong Kong would be administered properly to preserve its

prosperity and stability. Neither side took the view the Hong

Kong should start to enjoy a high dagree of autonomy before

1997.

Quite!

Because people quite

people quite intuitively hope that there will be no

turmoil in Hong Kong during the transition, many Councillors, and

officials likewise, have regularly over-emphasised the similarity

of the Hong Kong Government before and after 1997. Dissimilarity

has been side-stepped in order to put people's minds at ease on

the one hand, and also to protect vested interests on the other.

Suggestions based on such thinking are not realistic. Whatever

similarity there is between the Government now and the Government

which will come into being after 1997 is only superficial;

dissimilarity between the two is, however, very real. Given that

the future SAR Government will differ from the present Government

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