Page:Hong Kong Basic Law consultation report vol. 1.djvu/8

 these academics and experts.

The events that took place between May and June this year on mainland China evoked great repercussions in Hong Kong, thus making it difficult for the consultations on the Basic Law to proceed as scheduled. Consequently on 7 June, we announced that all activities were to be suspended. The consultations did not resume until 20 July. During that time, despite the extra pressure exerted on the consultative work by the anxiety of people in Hong Kong about their future, our one hundred and seventy odd members continued with their effort. After the consultations were fully resumed, members of our Executive Committee went to Beijing several times to exchange opinions with the leaders of the Drafting Committee. Subsequently, with the consent of the authorities concerned, the consultation period was extended to the end of October. The special groups of our Committee then called their own meetings to discuss in depth the contents of the Basic Law (Draft) in the light of the new circumstances.

An international symposium was initially scheduled as part of the programme for this second consultation exercise. But owing to inadequate time caused by the suspension of the consultative work in June and July, it had to be cancelled with reluctance. Nevertheless, we would still like to extend our gratitude to those internationally renowned scholars who agreed to present their papers at this symposium. It is most unfortunate that the Hong Kong public have been denied a chance of meeting them.

In the whole process of drafting the Basic Law. the drafters are naturally the ones who contribute the most and work the hardest. Likewise in the consultations on the Basic Law, our advisers and members are the ones who contribute the most. This is especially true with the second round of consultations, during which they vowed to adhere to their duties and continued to work for a better Basic Law. I believe those who have been and are still following the development of the Basic Law will not dispute that. My indebtedness is herein acknowledged to our advisers and members.

During this consultation period, people from various sectors submitted to us all sorts of opinions which covered almost everything and were expressed in all forms. We herein thank them sincerely for their concern for the Basic Law (Draft). Our Secretariat is at the moment processing these opinions so that they can be compiled into the consultation report which, apart from being submitted to the Drafting Committee for reference, will be made available to the public as in the previous round of consultations. Although the second consultation period has concluded, we still welcome other organizations and people from various sectors to continue to express their opinions before the meetings to be held in December by the various subgroups of the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law. Even though the opinions received between now and the December meetings will not be included in the consultation report, they will be forwarded