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26.
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The obvious difficulty with this proposal is
that it does not reflect the provisions of the Basic Law,
and Chinese Government spokesmen have declared that the
Basic Law cannot be changed before 1997. It is therefore
incumbent on us to look for different means of developing
still further our governing institutions within the
community. If the Basic Law is not going to be changed,
what can be achieved without modifying it? What I have
sought to do is to identify all the avenues for
strengthening our political system which the Joint
Declaration and the Basic Law leave open to us. The
Foreign Secretary told his opposite number, at the New
York meeting to which I referred earlier, what I have in
mind.
27.
I want to emphasise that we have embarked upon
these consultations, begun by the Foreign Secretary, in
good faith and in the hope that the Chinese Government
will understand the benefits which a more representative
system will bring to Hong Kong. This process will only
succeed if Hong Kong's politicians display good sense and
restraint and demonstrate the substantial contribution
which greater democracy can make to the development of
Hong Kong, the well-being of its residents and the
confidence of its community.
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