9.
The events in Tiananmen Square in June 1989 had a
profound effect on Hong Kong opinion. This reaction in turn
reinforced in the Chinese leadership a deep-seated mistrust of democracy in Hong Kong. These events strengthened support in
Hong Kong for a faster pace of democracy than that laid down in the 1988 White Paper. In July 1989 the unofficial members
of the Executive and Legislative Councils (OMELCO) recommended
that one third of the Legislative Council should be
directly-elected in 1991 (ie 20 seats) and not less than 50%
in 1995 (ie 30 seats). This became known as the OMELCO
consensus. Senior members of OMELCO came to London to press
Her Majesty's Government to implement it.
10.
This posed in acute form the problem of how to reconcile
the clear wishes of the community for a faster pace of
democratisation with the equally strong interest in continuity
of the political system in Hong Kong before and after 1997. The draft of the Basic Law at that time provided for only 15 directly-elected seats in 1997. Her Majesty's Government took
up this matter in a series of tough discussions with the
Chinese Government in late 1989 and early 1990. The British
side stressed the importance of responding to the clear desire
in Hong Kong for a faster pace of democratic development by
increasing the number of directly-elected members of the
Legislative Council beyond that envisaged in the draft Basic
It was in this context that a series of messages were
exchanged between the two Foreign Ministers in late 1989 and
early 1990. These exchanges were made public in October 1992.
Law.
11.
The Chinese side eventually agreed to increase to 20 the
the number of directly-elected seats prescribed in the Basic
Law for the first legislature of the Hong Kong SAR.
This was
reflected in the final version of the Basic Law published in
April 1990. The Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary confirmed
to the House in February 1990 that the Legislative Council
statememt.8/BRIEFS/NJH
10