TNAG-1596-FCO40-2181-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 104

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6.

The GEC

I hope this explanation of the background is helpful.

would be essentially an electoral mechanism rather than a

functioning part of the executive or the legislature. It would have

limited functions and would presumably be brought into existence

only when these were to be exercised (probably only once every four

years or so). In our new papers to the Chinese we are doing no more

than building on an idea already current in Hong Kong and previously

floated with the Chinese. The concept has figured in earlier papers

cleared with the Prime Minister and colleagues.

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