HKB 011/6
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
16 MAR 1993
OSCICER
REGISTRY
PA
Action Takan
HONG KONG
Rels w. Part. pa
With permission, Madame Speaker, I should like to make a
statement about political development in Hong Kong.
There is widespread support in this House for the proposals
put forward by the Governor last October. We sought to
respond to the wish of the Hong Kong people for a greater say
in their own affairs, while staying within the terms of the
Sino-British Joint Declaration, the Basic Law and other
relevant exchanges with the Chinese side.
32
The Governor's proposals represent our judgement of the right
way forward for Hong Kong. But we have said from the start
that we are open to alternative ideas, from the people of Hong
Kong or from the Chinese side. We have had a wide range of
suggestions from people in Hong Kong. The Chinese side have
opposed the proposals without offering anything in their
place.
Since last October, we and the Governor have been urging the
Chinese side to discuss these electoral issues with us in
order to reach an understanding.
discussions without preconditions.
We are ready to enter such
We want to see as much
continuity as possible in Hong Kong's electoral arrangements
before and after 1997.
sosstatement15.3