34. In his address to the Legislative Council, the Governor
was careful not to breach the confidentiality of the talks.
But in the light of extensive press leaks, he confirmed that the British side had put forward revised proposals on the
Functional Constituencies and the Election Committee,
conditional on reaching an acceptable overall agreement that
included through train criteria. He emphasised that the
British side were working for success in the talks, but that
for practical reasons there were only weeks rather than months left in which to reach an agreement.
35.
In the course of October, the British side put forward a further revision of their proposals for the nine new Functional Constituencies, taking account of points made by the Chinese
side. The details are in paragraph 73 below. They also put
forward new proposals on the Election Committee, accepting the
Chinese position that the Committee's size should be 600, and confirming that Deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference (CPPCC) would be free to stand for election to the
Election Committee.
36. In late October, the Chinese side proposed that the two sides record an interim understanding on five points: that
there would be no change in the nature or functions of the District Boards and Municipal Councils; that the voting age in all three tiers of elections, including the Legislative
Council, should be 18; that the restriction on NPC and CPPCC
members serving in Hong Kong's representative bodies should be
lifted for all three tiers; that the voting method for the District Boards and Municipal Councils should be single-seat,
single- vote; and that the two sides should record their differing view on the question of abolishing appointed members in the District Boards and Municipal Councils; it should be for the Special Administrative Region Government to determine
statement26.8/BRIEFS/NJH
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