[CONFIDENTIAL]
administration of Hong Kong up to 1 July 1997, and on these issues the Governor will therefore be announcing decisions.
and
5.
Second, there are the changes that will be needed for the 1995 LegCo elections. I have previously assured the House that we would continue to press the case for a faster pace of democratisation. I did so when I met the Chinese Foreign Minister in New York on 25 September. The Chinese position remains that the Basic Law cannot be changed before 1997, that no increase in the number of directly elected seats in 1995 beyond the 20 set out in the Basic Law will therefore be possible. We will continue to make the case for more directly elected seats in 1995 with vigour. But this is not the only way of building up democracy in Hong Kong. With our agreement, the Governor will therefore be exploring in parallel how to develop Hong Kong's representative institutions to the maximum extent within the terms of the Basic Law.
6. The details are summarised in the annex. The key proposals include making the District Boards fully directly elected; greatly expanding the electorate for the LegCo functional constituencies; and ensuring that the members of the Election Committee who will elect 10 LegCo members should themselves have been elected (for example the Committee could be composed of all the directly-elected District Board members). In this way, every level of representative Government up to and including LegCo will have been formed on the basis of broadly based, fair and open elections.
7. To maximise the chances of continuity in 1997, we shall be discussing the electoral arrangements with the Chinese side, starting with the Governor's visit to Peking from 21-23 October. On these issues, therefore, the Governor will be announcing proposals in his LegCo speech. But they are the result of much careful thought here and in Hong Kong and represent what we believe will best serve Hong Kong's interests. We shall need to conclude discussions with the Chinese side in time to start making the necessary practical arrangements early in 1993.
8. I hope you will agree that the Governor's proposals reconcile the need for democratic development in Hong Kong with the requirement for as much continuity as possible, and that you will give them your support.
9. The Commissioner of the Hong Kong Government Office in London will be sending you shortly the text of the Governor's speech.
DOUGLAS HURD
dearcolleague.CONS.bern
[CONFIDENTIAL]