2.E. BEIJING CRYPTEK
THU AS AUG 92 11:53
PG.17
3
pol/HK/elcomm-cis
SECRET
HKB 011/798/2
RECEPED IN DEGISTRY
27 M 1993
INDEX
PA
REGISTRY
Teken
ROUND 9:
DRAFT MODULE ON THE PRINCIPLE OF ELECTION TO THE
ELECTION COMMITTEE {"NEW BRITISH PRECONDITIONS")
1. I am puzzled by your suggestion that there is something new or inappropriate about the principles we have set out for the Election Committee, ie that
its members should be elected fairly and openly in Hong
Kong, not selected; and that
the arrangements for the elections which took place within the Election Committee should themselves be open and fair.
I note that Vice-Premier Qian Qichen did not raise any difficulty about these principles when the Foreign Secretary set them out during their discussion on 9 July. Indeed they are principles which really should not come as a surprise to the Chinese side; there is nothing new about them; they are reasonable and practical. Moreover any alternative approach would be inconsistent with:
- what Chinese officials have previously told us in the course
SECRET
5/8/93