TNAG-1469-FCO40-1998-Visits-by-members-of-the-Office-of-the-Unofficial-Members-of-1986 — Page 57

The Chief Executive

CONFIDENTIAL

25.

The

in

A discussion of this was suggested by Mr Oswald Cheung. Secretary of State noted that it was too early to raise this detail with the Chinese. Mr Cheung said that the Chinese had adopted the idea that the Chief Executive should be chosen by an electoral college. An article in the "Mirror" magazine in Hong Kong had endorsed this, but suggested that the college would be allowed

to choose only between a number of candidates pre-selected by the

CPG. The Governor noted that we had put to the Chinese in a paper 3 ideas for the selection of the Chief Executive: universal franchise, election by legislature or election by an electoral college. The Chinese seemed to have adopted the third idea. They had not

not told

him in Peking the previous week that they planned to pre-select candidates. Clearly, the Chief Executive must be acceptable to the

CPG, but it would be better if they would allow Hong Kong in a sensible way to suggest someone they knew would be acceptable to the CPG. They had said that the first Chief Executive should be chosen before 1997 by consultation, but should not take over until 1 July

1997.

EXCO believed the best course would be to install him

progressively so that he could carry on through 1997. (Members indicated agreement.) The Secretary of State noted that we would

thus be preempting the question of selection. Mr Renton observed

there was a danger, which the Prime Minister had pointed out the previous day, that we might get this method of proceeding accepted in principle by the Chinese and then have forced on us an

unsatisfactory candidate. The Secretary of State agreed, but said it would be in the interests of stability to accept this risk. And

if we chose someone we liked but who was not acceptable to the Chinese, they could get rid of him immediately after the hand-over.

that

26.

Mr Sandberg noted that a candidate not fully acceptable to

the Chinese would not be acceptable in Hong Kong either: no one

would listen to him even before 1997. Dr Wilson said that from the Chinese point of view, it might look as though we were trying to impose a British-selected Chief Executive on them for 3 years after 1997. The Secretary of State noted that a consensus was developing that a British Governor should remain in Hong Kong until 1997; by a Chief Executive should already be in place who would stay on

then

CONFIDENTIAL