GOVERMENT HOUSE HONG KONG.
HED 15 DEC 93 66:23
PG.02
SECRET
布政司路
香港下亞畢道
Ipa ribuite
Papa (Handy)
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT
LOWER ALBERT ROAD HONG KONG
本署檔號 Our Ref.:
來函橋號 Your Ref:
01/6
Deskby 150830Z
03 MAR
By Fax
IN
15 December 1993
P.F. Ricketts, Esq,
Hong Kong Department,
FCO
дет роки Peter
White Paper
We have looked
(in the form that Kay
again at the Saunders faxed
draft White Paper to Martin Dinham
on 3 December), to see whether it needs to be updated to deal with points the Chinese made in their recent Chinese public Rounds 15-17. We have the following suggestions.
2.
statements
on what happened
in
One point that the Chinese have been making in public is that to meet our concern over a "balanced" agreement, they have at Round 17 proposed an oral agreement confined in all respects to the MC/DB elections. Failure to mention this fact in the White Paper might lead to later perception/accusation that we have something to We propose to cover the point by amending the first sentence of para. 41 as follows :
hide.
"In the
informal
side/put
discussion during Round 17 Chinese side put forward two texts for an oral understanding
one covered only arrangements for the
the Municipal Council and District Board elections ; the other covered the same ground but with the addition, for Legislative Council elections, of the voting age and the removal of the restriction on Hong Kong residents who are members of Chinese People's Congresses. The Chinese side Baid that in either case, if the British side could accept that the voting method for the Legislative Council should not be included in the understanding, they could
T?
SECRET
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