CONFIDENTIAL
3.
It is at present hard to predict exactly under what
circumstances we might wish to move in that direction.
If we
do so, I am sure that Sir R McLaren is right in suggesting that
this should be with the aim of exploring the possibility,
however remote, of reaching agreement with China, subject always to our overriding insistence that any electoral arrangements put in place must be open, fair and acceptable to
Hong Kong people. After all a lot is at stake. In all
probability, as we have recognised, it would be impossible to reach agreement with China. Even so the possible gain for Hong Kong in terms of mitigating the severity of the eventual Chinese response, even at the margin, would still be a
significant one. If China threatened not only to put in place
a new legislature in 1997 but also to debar participation in it
by any who had served in LegCo in 1995 this would inevitably
cast a shadow over the last years of our administration.
5 November 1992
С был
CO Hum
CONFIDENTIAL