CONFIDENTIAL
have read with interest the White Paper on constitutional development which has been published by the Hong Kong Government. This provides for substantial development towards representative institutions in the 1985 elections and
the prospect of further development in this direction after a review in 1987. That review will also consider the question of direct elections. The Hong Kong Government's proposals take into account the general desire expressed during the consultative process for the proposals to avoid any sudden and dramatic changes which could prove unsettling to the
territory.
I
28. The success of the agreement will depend not only the
governments of China and the UK, but in a large part on the people of Hong Kong and their willingness to make it work.
am confident that they will rise to this challenge, and that
they will make the territory even more successful than it is
today. We for our part will remain utterly committed to Hong
Kong up to 1997 as the administering power. Thereafter I am
sure that Hong Kong and Britain will remain closely connected
through a complex of economic, cultural and personal ties, as the agreement provides.
CONFIDENTIAL