Peking to appoint more "Advisers", including
Sir David Akers-Jones (a former Chief Secretary)
- A distinguished former civil servant. Entitled to his
views. Hope he will convey to the Chinese Government the strong wish of Hong Kong people for more democracy.
Li Peng's warning that Britain responsible for consequences
As the future sovereign power, China shares responsibility
for the future stability and prosperity of Hong Kong. Already has considerable involvement in the economic life of
the Territory.
- The British Government has been trying to engage the Chinese
side in constructive talks about the 1994/5 electoral
arrangements in Hong Kong for many months.
- It is China's continuing refusal to settle arrangements for
such talks which has led to the present situation, which we
very much regret.
- We shall continue to seek cooperation with China on the
basis of the Joint Declaration.
British "have created obstacles"/"unreasonable demands"/
("3-legged stool")
- Our approach to talks has been clear and consistent. We
have told the Chinese side that we are ready for talks at any time without preconditions. We delayed publication of the Governor's legislation, but emphasised that we could not
do so indefinitely. We gave the Chinese side plenty of notice that we would need to publish on 12 March if we had
not agreed talks by then.
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