The
Your leader also made several factual errors in discussing constitutional development in Hong Kong. relevant facts are these. In July 1984 the Hong Kong Government published a Green Paper to launch public consultation on the development of representative government. A Hong Kong Government White Paper published in November 1984 described feeling in the community on the issue of direct elections to the Legislative Council as "strong public support for the idea
but little support for such elections in
the immediate future". It said that the issue would be considered in another review in 1987.
That undertaking was carried out. The review held in 1987 showed that while public opinion was strongly in favour of introducing a directly elected element into the Legislative Council, views on the timing of this move were clearly divided. The Hong Kong Government therefore concluded, with our support, that this change should be introduced in 1991 rather than earlier. No promise or undertaking was broken.
Elections No referendum was planned, let alone postponed. were not "postponed" until 1991. Your leader was quite wrong
on all these counts.
Our approach to the development of representative
It government in Hong Kong has been consistent and clear. should suit Hong Kong circumstances. It should move steadily forward. It should do so in a way which commended the widest possible public support. Each step has been taken on the basis of painstaking public consultation. And we have urged the Chinese Government to adopt the same approach in planning for constitutional arrangements after 1997.
Уали
faithfully
та
Hemanthur
THE LORD GLENARTHUR