TNAG-1397-FCO40-1869-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Basic-Law-1985 — Page 92

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consultation" should be retained although it was used too frequently

in the draft constitution. It was added that the mode of democratic

consultation in the Beijing meetings was accepted by most of the

Hong Kong members of the Drafting Committee. This mode was not the mode

originally adopted in China, nor was it peculiar to China.

It was

neither in the style of Hong Kong nor in style of western countries.

The term "democratic consultation" was a good one, with its unique

meaning, and, therefore, should not be abandoned for historiaal

reasons.

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Yet, a review on the history of communist rule in China will

reveal that like the term "political consultation", "democratic consultation"

and "consultation" refer to processes in which the opinion of minority

parties or a small number of "democratic personages" is being solicited.

Democracy is "practised under the centralized guidance" of the Chinese

Communist Party and the State.) In practice, democratic consultation

is centred round the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Tasks

involved in the process include to persuade and educate so as to seek

uniformity of thought and will, and finally to take suppressive and

coercive measures to substitute decision by vote for "rubber stamps",

thereby reaching unanimity and achieving the predetermined results.

It is evident that the term "democratic consultation" imported' from

China stands for something different from the "democracy" generally

The term also represents a type of

understood in other countries.

Perhaps, the phenomenon of seven persons

political operation in China. attending the meetings of the six-member group can be seen as a footnote

to the efforts at "democratic consultation" in Hong Kong. Now that

Hong Kong and China differ in nature and are to be ruled under two

different systems, whether the pattern of political operation in China

will be imported into Hong Kong following the use of the term

"democratic consultation" is a serious issue, not 'troubles stirred