35
hearted support of the British Prime Minister and Foreign
Secretary there has been no question of his wings being clipped
from London. The result has been a prolonged trial of strength
between the Governor and his Chinese adversaries to be determined
by the degree of public support given him in Hong Kong and by the
extent to which Legco is prepared to vote the proposals into law
once they have been presented in legislative form in February
1993.
11 19
The Chinese side claims that at issue is not the details of
the proposals themselves. In the words of Director Lu Ping during
the course of the Governor's visit to Beijing on 23 October 1992,
"we believe that the essence of the differences between the two
sides lies not in the question of accelerating or not
accelerating democracy in Hong Kong but in the question of
cooperation or confrontation. There is no evidence to suggest
that Patten sought a confrontation. Part of the issue derives
from the clash of styles and political cultures between the two
sides. Unlike the previous three governors with their diplomatic
backgrounds as old China hands, Chris Patten is a senior
Westminster politician tempered in the cut and thrust of public
political debate whose outcome is decided
is decided ultimately in the
ballot box. Negotiations too in his experience are settled by
finding compromises between publicly stated positions. The
Chinese by contrast prefer to bargain behind closed doors and
have no experience of leaving important matters to be decided by
the uncertainties of the secret ballot. But the vehemence of the
19
Xinhua News agency 23 october 1992 in SWB FE/1521 A2/8.