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agreed in Hong Kong had also gone. Any suggestion that debate would be cut short was wrong. We accepted the arguments for dialogue.
Mr Tang said that China had never recognised the triangular nature of the relationship, but only the relationship between the two governments. Acceptability for Hong Kong was a sticking point for them. The facts were that the Chinese Foreign Minister had asked the British government not to make our proposals public on 7 October. Now that they had been made public it was very difficult for them to be reopened. Peking felt that Britain had not wanted to negotiate.
The Foreign Secretary said that if we had done things the other way round, i.e. discussed the proposals in Peking first, everybody would have said that that was Peking dictating to the British, so it had been reasonable to follow the path and the timing we had followed.
The Prime Minister agreed. Under any other scenario no-one would have believed in our commitment to greater democracy. Nor would that have been in the interests of Hong Kong or of China after 1997. It would have made Hong Kong a very sour acquisition for the Chinese. China accepted the notion of increased democracy in the basic law. They had kept their word on the joint declaration once freely given.
Mr Lee repeated that his Group wanted to see the impasse resolved. How that was done was for the British government. He hoped they would follow the group's proposals. He did not want to see the problem unresolved so that the Chinese set up a system in advance. That would undermine the Governor. It would split the people of Hong Kong. It would work to the detriment of Hong Kong and Britain. He did not want to see Hong Kong undermined by China or people being forced to take sides. He agreed that the issue could be resolved. Cordial, trusting and friendly relations could be pursued between both countries.
The Prime Minister said that the British Government saw the point. So did the Governor. He was not brushing aside the points that had been made. Our primary concern was to do what was in the interest of Hong Kong. We would talk till hell froze over in order to reach agreement. He reaffirmed our determination to reach an agreement which was satisfactory and would endure