TNAG-1373-FCO40-1819-Ministerial-visits-from-the-UK-to-Hong-Kong-1985 — Page 145

i

-9-

PRIME MINISTER

No.

Conscription is not mentioned in the Agreement

and the Chinese Government have not suggested that there

I did not go into detail.

would be conscription.

QUESTION

Mrs. Thatcher, how much importance do you set on

secret ballot in the electoral process and what significance

is there in the absence of any mention of this in the Agreement

PRIME MINISTER

You will find that the Agreement goes into a good

deal of detail but I think not the full kind of detail which

you are seeking at the moment. Of course, I believe in a

secret ballot. We have to sort out developments in the

constitutional Government of Hong Kong between now and 1997. Of course, we believe that democracy requires a secret ballot.

You will find the Agreement itself and during that

time, between now and 1997, we have the Joint Liaison Group, and of course, the Agreement itself says that it expects the whole structure of it...it expects the lifestyle of Hong Kong to continue. But long before 1997 we have steadily and securely to increase the amount of representation of local

people in the Government of Hong Kong.

QUESTION

Prime Minister, on Wednesday, you signed an agreement with China promising to deliver over 5 million people into