HC Deb 01 February 1988 vol 126 cc467-8W
Mr. Foulkes

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the application after 30 June 1997 of each of those international human rights conventions and other agreements that(a) do and (b) do not currently apply in Hong Kong.

Mr. Eggar

The Joint Declaration on the queston of Hong Kong provides thatThe provisions of the international covenant on civil and political rights and the international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force".

It is our understanding that the Chinese Government will make provision in the Basic Law for the future Hong Kong special administrative region, which they are currently drafting, to give effect to this undertaking in the joint declaration.

Should further relevant conventions be extended to Hong Kong before 1997, we, together with the Chinese Government, would need to consider their continued application to Hong Kong after 30 June 1997.