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reactions of the Chinese and the British to them. For their part
any delay in implementing or any backtracking from the principles
of full representative democracy are portrayed as a betrayal by
the British and as evidence of their kowtowing to the Communist
Chinese authorities. Their leaders Martin Lee and Szeto Wah had
been prominent in giving material support to the demonstrators
in Tiananmen Square in the Spring of 1989 and they had assisted
some of the dissidents in escaping after the crackdown of June
4th. The Chinese authorities have since denounced them as
subversives. Such is the fear of the Chinese authorities that
they introduced into the subsequent draft of their Basic Law for
the territory a special clause outlawing subversion of the
mainland. Although they were no lovers of Western democracy
before June 1989, the first draft of the Basic Law (that in other
respects was more restrictive) did not have that clause. In the
first direct elections to the Legislative Council held in 1991
the UDHK won 16 of the 18 seats (out of a total of 60 in the
council) and Beijing supported candidates did not win a single
seat. That result did not endear the democratic process to the
Chinese authorities and as we shall see it has raised new
problems for the British side especially in preparing for the
1995 elections which will be the last before the transfer of
sovereignty.
From the perspective of the British negotiators and the Hong
Kong Government who are responsible for maintaining "stability
and prosperity" in the territory up to 30 June 1997 and who have
every interest in trying to effect a smooth transition of