ACTIONS WITHIN HONG KONG
(i) Progress towards Representative Government
10. The Committee noted in its Report the importance of the
events of Tiananmen Square in changing and intensifying the
concerns of Hong Kong people.
11. This was particularly apparent in the debate over the pace
of democratic development, notably over the question of elections to the Legislative Council. In 1989 just under half the
membership of the Legislative Council was indirectly elected, the
rest being appointed or official members. The Hong Kong Government's policy at that time, following an extensive
consultation exercise in 1987, was that in the elections to the
Council due in 1991, there should for the first time be 10
directly-elected seats. After June 1989 pressure grew in Hong Kong for a much faster rate of progress. But many people also attached importance to ensuring continuity in arrangements for the
Legislative Council beyond 1997 (the "through train"). There
followed a period of intensive exchanges between the British and
Chinese Governments about the electoral provisions to be included
in the Basic Law. As a result the final version of the Basic Law
provided for an increased number of directly-elected seats in the legislature from the time at which the Basic Law comes into force,
in July 1997. The Basic Law provided for 20 out of the 60 seats
to be directly elected at that time. The Government therefore
decided that there would be 18 directly-elected seats in the 1991
Legislative Council elections, and at least 20 in the final
elections under British sovereignty, in 1995. The Secretary of
State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs also made it clear to
the House (16 February 1990) that we would continue to press the
case for a faster pace of democratisation.
select.cttee.PR.JRB
.../12. The