Pinally, I must take issue with your assertion that we have failed to negotiate robustly with the Chinese Government on democracy and on the other issues you mention. We have pressed them very hard on all the matters of importance to Hong Kong in the Basic Law and have achieved significant improvements. On direct elections, we took them to the limit of what was achievable. The final outcome did not go as far as we would have liked, which is why I have made it clear that we shall continue to impress upon them
the merits of a faster rate of democratisation than is currently
provided for in the Basic Law.
Douglas Hurd