Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Consultative Committee (BLCC) was an official body established in 1985 to canvass views in Hong Kong on the drafts of the Hong Kong Basic Law.

The formation of the Consultative Committee was decided at the first meeting of the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee (BLDC), for consultation with the Hong Kong people on various drafts of the Hong Kong Basic Law. The membership of the BLCC was completely consisted of Hong Kong persons. 25 of the Hong Kong members of the Drafting Committee formed a Sponsors Committee to work on the formation of the BLCC. The five BLDC vice-chairmen residing in Hong Kong including Xu Jiatun were asked to take up the preparatory work for setting up the BLCC while the Xinhua News Agency provided the necessary assistance. Three of the tycoons on the BLDC provided necessary funds to cover costs.

The appointment of Consultative Committee was opposed by some influential members from the business sector in the Drafting Committee, as it introduced an unnecessary degree of democracy and public participation. In the end the BLDC members had considerable influence over the composition and work of the Consultative Committee since they drafted the constitution of the BLCC. After almost six months of preparations, the Consultative Committee was formally established on 18 December 1985.T. K. Ann, chief opponent of the Consultative Committee and vice-chairman of the BLDC was appointed the chair of the BLCC and other members were given key positions through procedures of dubious validity. Mao Junnian, the Secretary General of the BLCC, was subsequently replaced by Leung Chun-ying.

The Consultative Committee had 180 members. Some of members were nominated by designated organisations, but most of them were invited directly by the Drafting Committee members, who also vetoed over nominations of the organisations. The BLCC members also included the Senior Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Lydia Dunn and of the Executive Council, Chung Sze-yuen, who were appointed by the British colonial government. It also included a number of social activists who called for a faster pace of democratic reform, such as Lee Wing-tat and Frederick Fung. The Consultative Committee was criticised of favouring over the conservative business and professional interests, and nominating some key pro-Beijing figures.Lau Chin-shek of the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee was initially nominated by a labour joint conference to stand for selection by was turned down by Xu Jiatun on the ground that "quite a few businessmen in Hong Kong resented him."

...
Wikipedia