Information legislature did not constitute a potential for discrimination. was also requested regarding the specific situation of the part Of the territory of Rang Kong which was not subject to the lease that expired in 1997 and about the Government’6 effort6 to resolve its diepute with Argentina regarding the Falkland Islands (Melvinas). 365. In his reply, the representative of the State party noted that terroritm in Northern Ireland was a continuing problem and that the Government was still attempting to counter it. The Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1986 was a binding treaty which stipulated that the status of Northern Iroland was to be determined by the democratic choice of the people of Northern Ireland. After 14 month6 of preliminary exchanges between the Secretary of State, the Irish Government and the four main constitutional parties in Northern Ireland, the Secretary of State had, on 26 March 1991, announced the establishment of a It had, nevertheless, been recognised that basis for formal political talks. the announcement marked only the beginning of a very long and difficult proceaa. 366. Responding to other questions, he said that the People of the Falkland Island6 expreesed their view6 in regular election6 and that there wa6 no doubt that their wish was to remain under British sovereignty, Since the 1990 agreement between the United Kingdom and Argentina, the two Government6 had been able to agree on a number of issues relating to activities in the Island6 and in the South Atlantic region in general, 367. Turning to the question of the exercise of the right to self-determination by the people of Hong Kong, the representative highlighted the unique situation of the Territory, which was subject to a lease that would expire in 1997. Following the signing of the Joint Declaration in 1904, an Assessment Office had been established to evaluate the views of the people of Hong Kong, who were found to be largely in favour of the text. The Basic Law Drafting Committee consisted of 59 members, 23 of whomwere from Hong Kong, and a Basic Law Consultative Committee, consisting exclusively of Bong Kong representatives, had been set up to determine public opinion in the Territory with regard to the draft Basic Law. The Hong Kong Government had issued a statement to the effect that it welcomed the intensive consultations which China had conducted with the people of Hong Kong during the drafting process and that effort6 had been made to take account of the concerns expressed by Hong Kong during the consultation process. 366. Under the Treaty of Nanking of 1942 and the Convention of Peking of 1960, Hong Kong islands and a part of the Kowloon Peninsula had been leased to the British Government in perpetuity, The rest of the territory (the New Territories), comprising 92 per cent of the total land area, had been leased to Britain for 99 years. The Chinese Government had consistently taken the view that the whole of Hong Kong was Chinese territory and that the treaties relating to Hong Kong were unequal. It was clear that the remaining 8 per cent of Hong Kong’s land area would not be viable without the New Territories which contained most of the territory’s agriculture and fnduetry, its power stations, its airport and container port. Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories hrPd therefore to be taken as a whole in the negotiations between the United Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China on the future of Hong Kong. -9o-