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the pace of political development in Hong Kong has been a
neuralgic point for the Chinese ever since 1984. We have had
difficult discussions with them each time we have wanted to
make a modest move forward on democracy, although the present dispute appears to be the most serious. On each previous occasion (particularly 1987/88 and 1990) we were prepared to accommodate the most pressing Chinese demands;
despite the immense amount of material we have handed
over to the Chinese in this period, there is probably nothing
which bears so directly on the Governor's 1995 election
proposals as the material already published form the 1990
exchanges. This is because much of the earlier discussion of
electoral issues has since been overtaken by the political
development which has already happened in Hong Kong.
there was also a great deal of debate about the general
question of convergence and the terms of the Basic Law. No
doubt the Chinese could find other documents to publish which would show that we were keen to achieve convergence if we
could. But I do not consider that we need feel ashamed of
And
pursuing that as a policy objective. For most of the period
under review, we were trying to influence the shape of the
Basic Law so that it would be feasible for Hong Kong's
developing political system to converge with it. I think that we could if necessary defend that as an entirely reasonable objective.
chett
PF Ricketts
record. GEN.kr
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