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say). It would be safer to say:
5.
"The Foreign Secretary has therefore advised the Chinese
Government that draft legislation will shortly be introduced into this Council covering the most immediate issues. This draft legislation will cover:
voting method and voting age for DBS, MCs and LegCo;
the abolition of appointed seats in DBS and MCs (and a consequent increase in the number of elected seats in MCs).
Page 6, first full paragraph, 4th sentence: I would prefer to keep to our (semantic) practice of not admitting to "deadlines", Perhaps you could amend to read:
"But everyone, including the Chinese side, knows that there
are real time constraints, and [we made clear to them] that we had to start the legislative process this December."
Yours
Nigel.
N J Cox
CC
PF Ricketts Esq, HKD, FCO
(By classified fax: IMMEDIATE}
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