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PRESS CERVIC
VERBATIM SERVICE VS014/90
Verbatim Semin
с.
FRIDAY 16 FEBRUARY 1990
PRODUCED BY LONDON PRESS SERVICE, CENTRAL OFFICE OF INFORMATION
CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN HONG KONG
Following is a transcript of Statement by The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, The Right Honourable Douglas Hurd MP, to the House of Commons
on 16 February 1990:
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I should like to make a statement about constitutional development in Hong Kong.
When I came back from Hong Kong on 17 January I told the House that I hoped to be able to announce a decision on the introduction of direct elections to the Hong Kong Legislature in 1991 in a matter of weeks. In view of the intense press speculation in the last
few days, it seems sensible to make the announcement now.
At the time of the signing of the Joint Declaration in 1984, there was по elected element of any kind in the Legislature, In February 1988, the Hong Kong Government announced that 10 directly elected seats would be introduced in 1991., It has however been clear for some time that the people of Hong Kong want to see â rapid rate of progress, and the question we have had to decide is what new starting point would be right.
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We wish to establish in Hong Kong before 1997 a system of government which includes from the outset a substantial element of democracy and which can endure and further develop after 1997. That is what Hong Kong wants, and that would be the best outcome for the territory.
If that outcome is to be achieved, the start which we make in 1991 must be carried through in the arrangements set out in the Basic Law. With this objective in mind, we have entered into discussions with the Chinese Government about the provisions relating to the political structure after 1997 to be included in the Basic Law for the future Hong Kong Special Administration Region.
In these discussions we have pressed the case for a faster process of democratisation in Hong Kong than was set out in the second draft of the Basic Law. We have also made it clear that the new proposals which emerged from the meetings of the Basic Law Drafting Committee, which took place in Canton in December and January would not command general support in Hong Kong. We have stressed the importance not only of achieving a steady progression in the number of directly elected seats, but also of arrangements for the political system as a whole which Hong Kong people will find acceptable.
The final Plenary meeting of the Basic Law Drafting Committee has been taking place in Peking this week. The meeting has not yet