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arrangements for the future of Hong Kong which it will set out,
before they decide whether to authorise the Foreign and
Commonwealth Secretary to sign the draft agreement.
PROPOSED ARRANGEMENTS
5.
It is proposed that the draft agreement should be published
immediately after initialling as part of a White Paper in the UK
which would be published simultaneously in Hong Kong. The body of
the White Paper should include:
(a) An account of the background to the negotiations leading up to
the draft agreement and of the constraints within which the
negotiators had worked;
(b) A careful explanation of the provisions of the draft agreement
and their implications;
(c) A commendation that the package on which people were being
asked to pass judgment was the best that could be negotiated in the
circumstances, and should be accepted as a workable basis on which
the people of Hong Kong could plan their future;
(d)
A clear statement of what the alternative to the package would
be (i.e. reversion of Hong Kong to China with no international
agreement on arrangements as to its future administration).
6. The ministerial statement formally introducing the White Paper
(and a parallel and roughly simultaneous statement by the Governor
in the Legislative Council) should include:
(a) A reiteration of the commendation contained in the White
(b)
Paper;
An unambiguous reminder of what the alternative would be on
lines of paragraph 5(d) above;
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