CONFIDENTIAL
PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT TO WASHINGTON, 23-25 FEBRUARY
BACKGROUND
Hong Kong
Constitutional Development
1.
The Governor announced a package of constitutional
measures on 7 October 1992. They represented his best judgement as to how to meet growing pressure in Hong Kong for more democracy within the constraints of the 1984 Joint Declaration
and the Basic Law, China's constitution for Hong Kong post-1997.
2.
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Mr Patten's electoral proposals include:
voting age to be reduced from 21 to 18;
voting system to be single seat, single vote;
creation of Independent Boundary Election Commission,
franchise of functional constituencies to be greatly extended
Election Committee( which will elect 10 LegCo members) to be composed of people who have themselves been elected.
3. The Chinese reacted with hostility, mounting a virulent
propaganda campaign against the Governor personally and putting
pressure on businessmen and Legco members. There was some let
up in the New Year, but they continued to maintain that the
proposed changes contravened the Basic Law, and warned that,
were the changes to be introduced, they would replace them in 1997 with their own arrangements. They refused to discuss the
proposals or to suggest any alternatives, but a range of alternative ideas has been put forward in Hong Kong, and the
Hong Kong Government has produced a compendium of these for consideration by LegCo alongside the Governor's proposals.
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CONFIDENTIAL