UNCLASSIFIED
FM HONG KONG
TO PRIORITY F CO
TELNO 0685
OF 1609152 FEBRUARY 88
INFO ROUTINE PEKING
UNCLASSIFIED
135
074537
MDLIAN 0373
TOP COPY
a DISTURB all
MIPT: REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT: WHITE PAPER: LOCAL PRESS REACTION
FOLLOWING IS FULL TRANSLATION OF THE HONG KONG ECONOMIC
EDITORIAL OF 11 FEBRUARY.
BEGINS
JOURNAL 'S
HEADLINE: THE CHINESE HOLD BACK FROM TAKING ACTION FOR FEAR OF
UNDESIRABLE CONSEQUENCES AND THE BRITISH SUCCESSFULLY WORK OUT A
SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM.
THE WHITE PAPER ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT: THE
WAY FORWARD WAS RELEASED YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. LI HOU HAD SAID
EARLIER THAT (CHINA) WOULD NOT RAISE OBJECTIONS TO THE INTRODUCTION OF PARTIAL DIRECT ELECTIONS IN HK IN 1991. XU JIATUN HAD ALSO SAID
A FEW DAYS AGO THAT HE HAD READ THE WHITE PAPER. (A COPY WAS SENT
TO THE CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY BY THE BRITISH EMBASSY IN PEKING).
PRINCIPAL CHINESE OFFICIALS HAD INDICATED THEIR STAND ON HK'S
POLITICAL SYSTEM BEFORE THE WHITE PAPER WAS PUBLISHED. ON THE SURFACE, THE REASON FOR THEIR MOVE WAS TO EXPRESS CONCERN OVER THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN HK. BUT INFACT, THEY WERE
GIVING HINTS THAT AN ELEMENT OF DIRECT ELECTIONS SHOULD ONLY BE INTRODUCED IN HK WITH THE APPROVAL OF CHINA. IN OTHER WORDS, ALTHOUGH ELECTIONS ON A ONE-MAN, ONE-VOTE BASIS ARE NOT BESTOWED UPON HK BY CHINA, THEIR INTRODUCTION WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SO SMOOTH IF PEKING HAD NOT GIVEN ITS CONSENT. WE DO NOT KNOW WHETHER THIS IS REALLY THE TRUE PICTURE. BUT IT IS BELIEVED THAT CHINESE OFFICIALS, IN INDICATING THEIR STAND (TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN HK), HAVE MADE KNOWN CHINA'S POSITION THAT ''WE KNOW AND WE WILL NOT RAISE OBJECTIONS''
ALTHOUGH CHINA HAS EXPRESSED GREAT CONCERN OVER THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN HK, WE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THE BRITISH HAVE DIRECTLY SOUGHT THE VIEWS OF CHINA AS IT IS NOT THEIR STYLE. BUT IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY THAT UNDER THE PREMISE THAT THE TWO SIDES WILL WORK TOWARDS THE COMMON GOAL OF MAINTAINING HK'S PROSPERITY
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