The decision for establishment of the Provisional Legislative Council was decided by the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a Beijing-appointed body which was responsible for implementation work related to the establishment of the HKSAR, to fill the constitutional vacuum left by the Beijing government's decision on overthrowing the "through-train" proposal to let the colonial Legislative Council elected in 1995 transition through the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, after the Sino-British disagreement on the constitutional reform made by the colonial governor Chris Patten.

[2] On 21 December 1996, the Selection Committee elected the 60 members of the Provisional Legislative Council from a list of 130 candidates in Shenzhen as the legality of the PLC was challenged by the colonial authorities.

[3] Most members of the pro-democracy camp including the Democratic Party boycotted the election as it deemed it as "undemocratic", while moderate Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) initially opposed but then agreed to join the interim body.

[5] Qian Qichen, Vice Premier and Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, in his capacity as chairman of the Preparatory Committee, condemned the British for their lack of courage in facing the reality of the provisional legislature and said that the election was forced to be held in Shenzhen since the British refused to cooperate in an introductory speech.

[5] In Hong Kong, Governor Chris Patten called the whole process "stomach-turning" and told China that the reality it should face was that one million people had voted in September 1995 to elect the existing Legislative Council.