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PRIME MINISTER
SECRET
HONG KONG: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Chris Patten has been considering the way forward on constitutional development in Hong Kong, and has now sent us his proposals. He will need to describe his approach when he addresses the Legislative Council (LegCo) on 7 October.
I enclose an annex setting out his detailed proposals, and the latest draft of this part of his LegCo speech. I discussed the issues with him in Hong Kong in July.
Hong Kong has changed rapidly in recent years. Chris Patten
has concluded that adjustments are now needed to the
constitutional arrangements, so as to bring them into line
with the territory's requirements at this stage of its
political development. He has developed a package of measures
which:
meet the needs of public administration in Hong Kong;
make the electoral system more democratic and fair;
exploit to the full the flexibility available within the
Basic Law while staying within its terms.
Our broad objectives are:
honkoncondev.Con.be
SECRET