§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions took place during the recent meeting between the British Government and representatives of the Government of China on the future of the death penalty in Hong Kong, after July 1997; and if he will make a statement. [31369]
§ Mr. GoodladThe death penalty was abolished in Hong Kong by the Crimes (Amendment) Ordinance in April 1993. Under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the laws previously in force in Hong Kong shall be maintained, save for any that contravene the Basic Law and subject to any amendment by the Hong Kong special administrative region legislature. Reintroduction of the death penalty after 1997 would, therefore, be a matter for the HKSAR rather than the Chinese Central People's Government.