SECRET
19
CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: ROLE OF THE GOVERNOR
BONG KONG:
IN THE 1990'S
MAJOR CONSIDERATIONS
Redacted under FOI exemption section 27(1)
1.
When talking to
delegations from Hong Kong, the Chinese have taken the line that whether elections would be possible in 1997 remains 20 open question. They have indicated to us that they would expect to have a general say on senior appointments in the run-up to 1997. In the last few days there have been indications of Chinese disquiet about the prospect
including a report that Deng Xiaoping takes this view. But we have no clarification of this yet.
of more representative government in Hong Kong,
2. It is clearly in the interests of the people of Hong Kong that appointments should be on the basis of elections rather than consultations. This would reduce, though not eliminate, the potential for Chinese interference in the system. We should therefore do what we can to create a situation whereby the Chinese
would have as little excuse as possible not to hold elections, and
where autonomous institutions at
at all levels would be in place before and would continue after 1997.
3.
as
Another consideration is that the
administration of Hong Kong
will remain HMG's responsibility up to 1997. This means not only
that we must preserve our symbolic constitutional role in such ways
the Governor continuing to be appointed by the Crown, but also that we must retain' the power to direct events in the territory if this should be necessary. Moreover, the Chinese will expect us to
hand Hong Kong over to them in 1997 as a going concern. They wil1
strongly oppose any arrangements that seem to them to suggest any