Council in October 1992. His reforms, now in the form of a bill,
would significantly broaden the franchise in the rotten boroughs
of the functional constituencies and make the Election Committee,
which will return 10 of 60 members, a genuinely elected rather
than appointed body.
Though Mr. Patten's proposals fell short of offering genuine
democratic elections, the people of Hong Kong were taken with the
enthusiasm with which he defended them and his willingness to
hold public forums and discuss issues. Most importantly, he
assured the Hong Kong people that it would be up to us to decide
on the key issue of political reform. We would have to take a
stand and make difficult choices but we were assured that the
days of London and Beijing striking secret deals behind our backs
were over.
How ironic it is then, that one year after his arrival and
nine months after his widely-praised Policy Speech, Mr. Patten
increasingly resembles his predecessors. Trapped in Government
House and advised by an Executive Council that lacks a single
elected representative, Mr. Patten sits and waits while British
diplomats negotiate secretly with their Chinese counterparts in
Beijing on precisely how to delineate Hong Kong's electoral
constituencies. It is important to remember that under the terms
of the Joint Declaration
the only areas
even after 1997
reserved to the Chinese Central Government are defence and
foreign affairs. Since local elections have nothing to do with
either defence or foreign affairs, the arrangements for the 1994-
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