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THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG

and will be one of the matters to be considered by the Joint Liaison Group. There is a very large number of international agreements which apply to Hong Kong and whose continued application following the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR will need to be secured. This will require consultation with third countries.

41. The Annex provides for continuity of representation by all foreign states and organisations currently represented in Hong Kong, subject to the approval of the Central People's Government. Changes to the status of such missions may be required in order to take account of the existence or otherwise of formal relations between the People's Republic of China and a particular state. The United Kingdom will be represented in Hong Kong by a Consul-General after 1 July 1997.

Section XII: Defence, Security and Public Order

42. With the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR, the British garrison will be withdrawn and the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China will be responsible for the SAR's defence. This section of the Annex makes clear that the maintenance of public order in the SAR will be the SAR Government's responsibility. It is also stated that military forces sent by the Central People's Government to be stationed in the SAR for the purpose of defence will not interfere in its internal affairs, and that expenditure for these military forces will be borne by the Central People's Government.

Section XIII: Rights and Freedoms

43. This section of the Annex explains that basic rights and freedoms will be protected in the Hong Kong SAR. It covers this important subject without an extended description of the rights and freedoms concerned by providing:

(a) that the rights and freedoms previously enjoyed under the laws of Hong Kong will

be maintained by the SAR Government; and

(b) that the provisions of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as they apply to Hong Kong, will continue to apply to the Hong Kong SAR.

44. It is thus made clear that persons in the Hong Kong SAR will enjoy the same protection of the law against infringements of their basic rights as they did before the establishment of the SAR.

45. While not restricting the range of rights and freedoms the text mentions specifically some of the more important rights and freedoms presently enjoyed under the law.

46. The Covenants are too lengthy to reproduce here but they are public documents1. They apply to Hong Kong, with certain reservations, and, in accordance with this section of the Annex, will continue to do so after 30 June 1997. The Covenants were drafted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, and entered into force in 1976. They state a general consensus of nations on basic rights and identify in detail specific human rights and freedoms: including the right to work, to an adequate standard of living, to life and liberty, and freedom of expression, conscience, religion and association.

47. The reservations entered by the United Kingdom in respect of the application of the Covenants to Hong Kong, which are also public, took account of the realities of the social

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1 Command 6702 Treaty Series No. 6 (1977)