and
their precondition about an agreement on principles, accepted that the talks should move to matters of substance.
c) Second Phase: May-June (Rounds 4-7)
38.
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.
39. The Chinese position on the main issues is set in
more detail in Part III. In summary, their position was:
On District Boards and Municipal Councils, that there should be no change of any kind in their nature, functions or composition. The Chinese side also asked that 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 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.
statememt26.8/BRIEFS/NJH
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, using
the principle of corporate voting.
On the Election Committee, that the composition and ratio should follow precisely the model set out in
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