CONFIDENTIAL
10.
20. The Chinese accepted the new formula, the atmosphere improved and Hong Kong breathed again. The magic words "useful and constructive" reappeared in the communiqué. We were then faced with the problem of telling the Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council, who were not at that stage aware of the new formula, that the game plan had changed. At a meeting on 16 December 1983, I informed them in confidence that the Chinese were extremely firm that the continuation of British administration in any form beyond 1997 was not acceptable. The severity of the blow was obvious and the atmosphere emotional. I nevertheless assured Members that this was not the end of the road. There was still much to play for and I gave them my assurance that the UK negotiating team would continue to do their utmost to get the best possible deal for Hong Kong.
21.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong itself the community was demonstrating its determination not to be left out of decisions on its own future. There was constant criticism of the confidentiality of the negotiations, a confidentiality which had to be preserved if the negotiations were not to degenerate into a battle of conflicting public statements. For their part the Chinese tried to treat the negotiations as a purely bilateral matter between Britain and China in which Hong Kong should have no voice. There could, as the Chinese put it, be no "three-legged stool". They took great offence to a motion introduced in the Hong Kong Legislative Council on 24 February 1984 by Mr. Roger (now Sir Roger) Lobo, the Senior Unofficial Member of the Council, which called for a debate on any proposals for a Sino-British settlement before that settlement was accepted. This was carried unanimously on 14 March amid rumblings backstage from Peking.
22. By this time, the timetable imposed by the Chinese for the completion of the negotiations, September 1984, was
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