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Round 17 they said explicitly that if we did so, they (the Chinese) would reinstate appointed seats. The SAR could decide the number but China would decide that appointed membership should be restored. They had previously made clear in writing that the decision itself should be a matter for the SAR alone. The back-tracking on this point caused even more concern in ExCo than the LegCo voting method, because it raised serious doubts about China's respect for the SAR's autonomy.
for
us was
that
us
The main point of doing a first stage deal
enable it would
to start and legislating on some of the more urgent matters thereby give us a bit more time to tackle the rest. But as it turned out, the Chinese drew out the first stage issues for so long that we simply ran out of time. It is not clear whether this was sheer stubbornness on their part; or brinkmanship that went wrong. Possibly both. We are still prepared to talk about the other matters genuinely prepared to do so, though I have to say that the gap is so wide on those matters that I doubt that an agreement is possible. We have signalled to the Chinese that we might be flexible over the Election Committee if they are flexible over the Functional Constituencies, but we've had no response. John Major's letter to Li Peng still remains unanswered after six weeks.
-
Chinese, the
You will know, of course, from your own long
that the real issues
issues at experience,
are stake
not - whether technical ones but real issues of principle we bequeath to Hong Kong a self-confident legislature capable of standing firm for Hong Kong's way of life or whether we leave behind a pliable body, which will we have not give Peking any trouble. The longer we talked to the
more I have become convinced that that is what they want to achieve. It would, of course, be much preferable from their point of view if they were able to achieve their aim with our acquiesence. I do not believe, in all conscience, that it would be in the long term interests of Hong I have seen Kong if we were to acquiesce in this way.
as I know you did it as my most important task try to ensure that the Joint Declaration means what it That is why I says, before as well as after 1997.
-
to
regard the details of these electoral arrangements, technical and intricate as they may be on the surface, as going to the heart of the kind of Hong Kong we will hand over in June 1997.
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