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on the advice of the Executive Council, to see whether talks can
lead to an early understanding which we could recommend to the
Council. The Executive Council and I believe that these talks
must be concluded in time for legislation to be enacted by the
Legislative Council during its present session SO that the
1994/95 elections can be held on schedule.
5.
They remain on the table.
The last point is an important one. The fact we are
entering talks does not alter it. My original proposals were
framed with these objectives in mind.
But I made clear in my speech to this Council on 7 October, and
subsequently, that we were willing to talk with the Chinese side
about the electoral arrangements for 1995 without preconditions.
I have also said throughout that I am ready to engage in talks
on the basis of the Joint Declaration, the Basic Law and the 1990
exchange of correspondence between the two Foreign Ministers.
I consider my proposals to be fully compatible with all of these,
as I have previously made clear to this Council, for example when
I addressed Honourable Members on 24 February.
6.
The Chinese side have indicated that they are willing
to begin discussions. This is very welcome. In the light of
this, I have decided, with the advice of the Executive Council,
that we should postpone gazetting the draft legislation for the
time being in order to allow the talks to get off to the best
allow
possible start. I believe this is a decision which the community
will support.
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