DRAFT WHITE PAPER:
REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG
PERSONAL INTRODUCTION FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE
1.
Fulfilling our responsibilities towards Hong Kong in the
remaining years of British sovereignty is one of the
Government's top priorities.
2.
A key part of that is our responsibility to hold
elections in Hong Kong in 1994 and 1995.
Fair and open
elections are vital if the territory is to have a credible
Legislative Council, capable of defending Hong Kong's way of
life as set out in the Joint Declaration, and the rule of law
on which it depends.
3. Our preference was that these elections should be held
on a basis agreed with the Chinese Government, with the aim of
ensuring continuity. Despite a real and sustained effort on our part, agreement was not possible. We were not prepared to compromise the principle that elections must be open and fair.
Our duty is to uphold the interests of the people of Hong
Kong. We are therefore commending to them and their
representatives in the Legislative Council our judgement a set
of electoral arrangements which would in our view best fit the
circumstances of Hong Kong in 1994 and 1995. It will be for
the Legislative Council to take the decisions on the final
content of the electoral legislation.
4.
This White Paper is intended as an aid to informed
debate
widely
-
in Parliament, in the Legislative Council and more
on these important issues. It gives a full account of what our talks with China were about, why agreement was not possible, and how we now intend to proceed.
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