TNAG-1443-FCO40-1927-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1986 — Page 124

くくくく

SECRET

IMMEDIATE

and C.

3.

Where your para 3 is concerned,

we

that

are not certain

follows from the first. I think the second sentence necessarily the Secretary of State may have in mind that although the introduction of a few directly elected seats would have a symbolic rather than practical effect, the possible risks of having any directly elected element are real and are not in fact Whether the elections were for directly determined by its size.

10 seats or for 30, their introduction would involve a new type of political activity on a territory wide basis, with certain implications for political and social stability however carefully the exercise was handled. This point appears to have dropped out of your revision of para 34 of the paper.

this 4 =

To reflect the Secretary of State's thinking on

in the present point, we suggest that the first two sentences text might be followed by the following passage, which draws on your suggestion and also on Language from para 18 of Peking tur: Quote This might not in itself present real problems for the Chinese. They seem however to fear that it would be merely the first step on the slippery slope to a fully

As far as Hong Kong is directly-elected legislature.

as

But the

concerned, direct elections will not in themselves guarantee autonomy after 1997: this will need to be achieved by a much wider variety of means. introduction of even a few directly elected seats in 1988 is at present seen a matter of symbolic significance by substantial sections of Hong Kong opinion. other hand the introduction of direct elections, even for only a few seats, would involve a significant stepping-up of political activity in Hong Kong, which could affect stability however carefully it was handled.

On the

We will need

to keep all these points very firmly in mind when we consider whether a directly elected element should be

3

introduced