Hong Kong: Politics and Government

Mr. Moore
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Green Paper on Constitutional Development produced by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; what the Government's policy is on the proposals for China's future role in Hong Kong's constitutional affairs; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband
The publication in July 2007 of the Green Paper on Constitutional Development, and the consultation exercise that followed, gave the people of Hong Kong an opportunity to express their views on the territory's future political development. It is now up to the Special Administrative Region government to take a lead in producing proposals around which consensus can gather.

The People's Republic of China's role on constitutional reform is set out in the basic law and the subsequent interpretation of the basic law by the National People's Congress Standing Committee in April 2004. We expressed our concern at the time that the procedure set out in the interpretation appeared to erode the high degree of autonomy guaranteed to Hong Kong in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Our position on Hong Kong's constitutional development is clear. We believe the people of Hong Kong have demonstrated both their political maturity and their desire for reform. We are convinced that the best way to safeguard Hong Kong's stability and prosperity is for it to advance to a system of universal suffrage, as soon as possible.