SECRET
(vii) To explore the Chinese side's position on amendments to the Governor's proposals, by questioning them a) about how the principles in the Joint
Declaration, Basic Law and Exchange of Letters should
apply to specific electoral arrangements and if
necessary b) about which of the variants in the Hong
Kong Government's compendium of proposals they favoured.
(viii) To seek to narrow down the area of Chinese
disagreement to two issues: the nine new functional
constituencies and the composition of the Election
Committee.
(ix) Having got as far as possible in identifying the extent of Chinese flexibility, to report back so that
Ministers and the Governor can take further decisions.
In pursuing these objectives, the negotiators should not
take the initiative in putting forward any amended proposals, or give the Chinese side any indication of what amendments we might eventually be prepared to accept.
Chinese Approach
3. The Chinese position has been that the Governor's
proposals violate the Joint Declaration (principally the commitment to "even closer cooperation" in the second half of the transition period); and are inconsistent with the Basic Law and what the Chinese claim was an understanding on
the composition of the Election Committee reached in the
exchange of letters between the British and Chinese Foreign
Ministers. They have until recently demanded the withdrawal
of the Governor's proposals as a precondition for talks.
Having dropped that, we expect their approach will be:
steeringbrief 15.2
SECRET
NH