26.
At the end of the third round, the Chinese side dropped their precondition about an agreement on principles, and
accepted that the talks should move to matters of substance.
c) Second Phase: May-June (Rounds 4-7)
27. The second phase of the talks was taken up largely with the Chinese side moving slowly (in response to pressure from the British side) to set out their views on the main issues. The British side also pressed for a response to their simple proposal for objective criteria on the through train, and on the other three issues listed in para 33 above.
28. The Chinese position on the main issues is set out in
more detail in Part III. In summary, their position was:
1
On District Boards and Municipal Councils, the principle of appointed membership should be retained. The provisions in existing Hong Kong law disqualifying members of Legislatures outside Hong
Kong from serving on the District Boards, Municipal
Councils or Legislative Council should be amended so
that representatives from Hong Kong on China's National People's Congress and Provincial Peoples'
Congresses could become members of these bodies.
On the Functional Constituencies, that there should
be no change of any kind in the composition and voting method of the existing 21 constituencies, and
that the nine new constituencies should be formed in
the same way as the existing 21. The principle of corporate voting should be retained.
On the Election Committee, that the composition and
ratio should follow precisely the model set out in
statememt26.8/BRIEFS/NJH
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