TNAG-1597-FCO40-2182-Hong-Kong-1987-Review-of-Representative-Government-1987 — Page 123

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(ii)

This

the treatment in the Green Paper of elections to the

Legislature would need particularly close discussion.

might be on the basis of a paper which would in effect be an

advance extract from the draft Green Paper (but not explicitly

presented as such).

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the full text of the Green Paper would be passed to the

Chinese some ten days in advance of publication. It would

not be presented as a draft. But we should have to recognise

(as we did over the September 1984 White paper on the Joint

Declaration) that if the Chinese chose to press for textual

changes this would be very difficult to resist. We have to

strike the best balance that we can between giving the Chinese

such ample advance notice as to invite amendments and so

little advance notice that any subsequent amendment would

result in significant delay in publication.

22. It is too early to consider how the White Paper will have to be

handled with the Chinese. This will depend on the nature of the

proposals which it puts forward. However, we must recognise that

the way in which the Green Paper is handled will be a precedent for

the White Paper, and that we are unlikely to be able to be less

forthcoming with it than we have been with the Green Paper.

POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF THE 1987 REVIEW

23.

The 1987 Review, and in particular the issue of direct

elections to the Legislative Council has already stimulated

considerable public debate in Hong Kong. Opinions on the question

of direct elections are divided. On the one hand, there are those

who oppose in principle the introduction of direct elections: on the

other, there are those who argue for the inclusion of a number of

directly elected seats in the Legislative Council in 1988. Between

these poles of opinion, views are much more diffuse, particularly on

the question of when direct elections should be introduced. It is

by no means certain that a clear consensus on this issue will emerge during the course of the review. Recent events in China could

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