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 Law. 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.
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
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