Page:Hong Kong Basic Law consultation report vol. 1.djvu/11

 ( 5 ) Consultation should go hand in hand with compromise.

3. A delegation comprising ten Executive Committee members went to Beijing in mid-March to brief the Drafting Committee on the CCBL's plan for this consultation exercise and had a meaningful dialogue with the drafters on ways to coordinate the efforts of the CCBL and the Drafting Committee in this round of consultations.

4. The whole consultation exercise was launched in accordance with the principle of "promotion before consultation". During the first two months after the Draft was published, the key tasks were to distribute the Draft and publicize the Basic Law. The organization of discussions and collection of opinions began at a later stage.

5. According to the announcement made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the consultation period would last from the date of publication to the end of July. The CCBL would finish the collection of opinions on 30 June and compile those opinions received before that date by the CCBL into a consultation report to be forwarded to the Drafting Committee for reference.

6. Since the Hong Kong public reacted strongly to the events that took place on mainland China in May and June, the Basic Law-related consultative activities in Hong Kong were affected. On 7 June, the CCBL decided to suspend consultation on the Basic Law. The Secretariat, however, continued to collect and process opinions.

7. On 10 July, the Chairman, Vice Chairmen and Secretary-General of the CCBL went to Beijing at the invitation of the Chairman of the Drafting Committee Ji Pengfei, to discuss how further consultations on the Basic Law (Draft) were to be carried out in Hong Kong. At the meeting, Mr Ji reiterated that the policies of the Chinese Government regarding Hong Kong would remain unchanged, and that they would propose to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress that the consultation period for the Basic Law (Draft) in Hong Kong be duly extended, whereas the date for submitting the Basic Law to the National People's Congress for examination and endorsement would not be changed.

8. On 20 July, the Executive Committee of the CCBL held a meeting to discuss the conditions prevailing at the time. It was held that the Hong Kong public had revived their interest in the drafting of the Basic Law, and realized the importance of the Basic Law to the future development