The Governor's proposals of October 1992 which were made with our full support answered this question.
They provided
for a modest development of democracy, which was fully
compatible with the Joint Declaration, the Basic Law and any
relevant agreements between Britain and China. The objective
which underpins our whole approach is that electoral
arrangements should be fair, open and acceptable to the people
of Hong Kong.
The Governor's proposals were well received in Hong Kong.
Despite the hostile Chinese reaction, we persevered with
efforts to get talks underway and eventually agreed a basis
for talks, which opened in April 1993. The second part of this White Paper gives a full account of these talks. It shows that we were prepared to make significant moves on two
important aspects of the Governor's proposals, the Functional Constituencies and the Election Committee, provided that the overall package met our essential requirements. (It also shows that the Chinese side were not willing to make any significant move to bridge the gap.] The third part of the White Paper analyses in more detail the specific proposals advanced by
both sides.
The balance sheet is clear. Our proposals, even after
substantial revisions in an effort to meet Chinese concerns,
would produce electoral arrangements that were fair, open and, in our judgement, acceptable to the people of Hong Kong. The
Chinese side's proposals as they emerged in the talks would
not. Stripped of the arcane detail, they proposed electoral arrangements which would have restricted choice and maximised
elections! China's capacity to influence the result. They proposed retaining appointed membership on the District Boards and Municipal Councils. They proposed freezing all development in the 21 existing functional constituencies, despite the
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