Written question asked by Andrew Faulds (Labour), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 25 February 1997. It was answered by Jeremy Hanley (Conservative) on Tuesday, 25 February 1997 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: What reasons the Chinese government has given for regarding an elected legislative council for Hong Kong as contrary to the joint declaration and the basic law; what response the Government has made to the Chinese government's reasons; and if he will place the communications between the two governments on this subject in the Library. - Inc ref to White Paper "Representative Government in Hong Kong" (Cmd 2432) of February 1994 and the Foreign Secretary's statement of 20 December 1996 (in Lib).

Answer: Mr. Faulds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reasons the Chinese Government have given for regarding an elected legislative council for Hong Kong as contrary to the joint declaration and the Basic Law; what response the Government have made to the Chinese Government's reasons; and if he will place the communications between the two Governments on this subject in the Library. [17528] Mr. Hanley: The Chinese Government have provided no convincing reasons for replacing the legislature elected openly and fairly in September 1995 by more than one million Hong Kong people with a body chosen by a hand-picked group of 400 people. The Government gave a full account of Sino-British exchanges on representative government in Hong Kong in its White Paper, "Representative Government in Hong Kong" (Cmd 2432) of February 1994. The Government's position on the provisional legislature is set out in my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary's statement of 20 December 1996 which has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 17528; 291 c147W
Session: 1996-97
Subjects: China Democracy Hong Kong Legislatures Hong Kong Legislative Council