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C
CHESHAM PL ASSOC
2002
MINUTE OF MEETING BETWEEN LADY THATCHER AND THREE MEMBERS OF HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 27 JANUARY, 1993.
PRESENT: LADY THATCHER, MISS EMILY LAU (LEGCO), MISS CHRISTINE LOH (LEGCO), DR C H LEONG (LEGCO), JULIAN SEYMOUR (PRIVATE OFFICE), MARK WORTHINGTON (PRIVATE OFFICE).
It was agreed the meeting would be private.
1. Miss Loh expressed her concerns that the Governor's proposals for increasing democracy in the colony did not go far enough and that full democracy was required. She felt the Hong Kong people had been "let down" by the British Government in not achieving this. The point was suongly supported by Miss Lau.
Lady Thatcher outlined the difficulties of the ncgotiations with China which led to the Joint Declaration and the framing of the Basic Law. Had most of Hong Kong's territory not been subject to a lease from China then democracy and full independence would have been achieved. The British Government had explored the possibility of continuing British administration under full Chinese sovereignty but this was unacceptable to the Chinese Government. The British Government had achieved the best deal possible and the Governor's proposals were an important step forward which Lady Thatcher fully supported. They in no way contravened either the Joint Declaration or the Basic Law, indeed Article 68 of the Basic Law states "The ultimate aim is the election of all members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage." The way was open for the achievement of this in 2007.
Miss Lau raised the visit to London of Lydia Dunn in 1990 after the Tianamen Square massacre where she urged the Prime Minister (Lady Thatcher) to grant full democracy to Hong Kong. Lady Thatcher recalled she had turned down their immediate request on the grounds that all the people of Hong Kong should consider very carefully the implications of any such move and that the request was made at a particularly emotive moment. She suggested to Lydia Dunn and her colleagues they should reconsider. Lady Thatcher does not recall the point being pressed again at a later date. Miss Loh, Miss Lau and Dr Leong expressed some surprise at this.
2. Dr Leong stated the second great concern of the people of Hong Kong concerned the preservation of a "Rule of Law" once a Communist Government took over control of the Colony. Would China honour the agreements they had made and how would the Chinese interpret the Basic Law?
Lady Thatcher expressed her sympathy with this point. Communist regimes did not understand this concept. It was for this reason the British Government had been determined to secure the continuation of legal and judicial systems currently in place after 1997.