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Hong Kong? It was not helpful for such baseless allegations to be maue. The British and Hong Kong Governments had an immense
commitment to the Joint Declaration and its implementation: they
were fighting as hard as they could.
10. Mr Lee said he accepted that there was no formal commitment to
direct elections in 1988. But British Ministers had spoken of the
progressive development of representative government in the years
ahead. The Secretary of State said it was also necessary to take
into account the need for a durable solution in Hong Kong and the
need to heed the opinion of Hong Kong people. How far was the
confidence crisis of which Mr Lee spoke being averted or encouraged
by allegations of broken promises? The British and Hong Kong Governments were taking decisions with the utmost good faith in the
interests of the territory. Mr Lee should acknowledge the sincerity
of those who were administering Hong Kong.
11.
Mr Lee said that the Hong Kong Government had done nothing over
the past two years, when matters of controversy had come up, to
enhance confidence. Things were not as rosy as they appeared to be
in the Annual Report. Promises had been broken. But the British
Government still had a trump card. China would not allow Hong Kong to disintegrate. If Hong Kong had direct elections in 1988 this
would strengthen his hand in the BLDC.
12. The Secretary of State said that Me Lee was entitled to his opinions, but he could not share them. No-one had a trump card. This was a dangerous concept. The only card of any value was the willingness of Britain and China to work together. The judgements
being made by the British and Hong Kong Governments in this
connection needed care and discretion. The process was not helped by allegations of bad faith and broken promises.
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