JALATP(ii)
SECRET
REVISED TEXT OF PARAGRAPH 34
be
At the same time the practical significance of the introduction of a directly elected element should be kept in proportion. In the immediate future only a small number of the seats on the Legislative Council would be involved. This might not in itself present real problems for the Chinese. They seem however to fear that it would merely the first step on the slippery slope to a fully directly-elected legislature. As far as Hong Kong is concerned, direct elections will not in themselves guarantee autonomy after
1997: this will need to be achieved by a much wider variety of
means. But the introduction of even a few directly elected seats in 1988 is at present seen as a matter of symbolic significance by substantial sections of Hong Kong opinion. On the other hand the introduction of direct elections, even for only a few seats, would involve a significant stepping-up of political activity Hong Kong, which could affect stability however carefully it was handled. We will need to keep all these points very firmly in mind when we consider whether a directly elected element should be introduced in
1988.
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