§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Hong Kong. [148229]
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§ Mr. RammellWe continue to follow developments in Hong Kong closely, in line with our responsibilities as a co-signatory to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary continues to report regularly to Parliament on the implementation of the Joint Declaration. The last such report (Cmnd 5864) was issued in July 2003 and is available in the Library of the House. We continue to assess that, generally, the "One Country, Two Systems" policy enshrined in the Joint Declaration is working well in practice.
The main political issue in Hong Kong is currently constitutional reform. The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) contains provisions on constitutional development, with the ultimate aims being the selection of the Chief Executive and election of all members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage. On 1 January up to 100,000 people participated in a march to call for greater democracy in Hong Kong.
On 7 January the Chief Executive announced the setting up of a Task Force, headed by the Chief Secretary for Administration, to examine the Basic Law's provisions on constitutional reform and to consult the Chinese Central People's Government on these issues. On 14 January the Chief Secretary issued a paper setting out the Work Plan of the Task Force. This makes clear that the Task Force will be carrying forward discussions with the Hong Kong people while consulting the Central People's Government on issues pertaining to the Basic Law.
When I was in Hong Kong in December I reiterated our position on this issue, that we hope to see early progress towards the Basic Law's ultimate aim of universal suffrage, at a pace in step with the wishes of the people of Hong Kong.