TNAG-1599-FCO40-2192-Hong-Kong-1987-Review-of-Representative-Government-1987 — Page 36

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HUKB 011/2. НКВ

RECEIVLD

2 1 DEC 1987

DLSK DEFIDER

INDEA

SECRET

FROM:

CO Hum

THY

DATE:

Cc:

Private Secretary

Hong Kong Department

18 December 1987

PS/Lord Glenarthur

Mr Gillmore

Mr McLaren o.r.

HONG KONG: WHITE PAPER ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE

GOVERNMENT

011/2

74

1. As the Secretary of State is aware, the Hong Kong Government is now drafting the White Paper on the development of representative government. The Secretary of State may find it helpful to look over the weekend at advance texts of the passages which we have now

received. The timetable for Ministerial clearance of the key

passages is, I fear, rather tight, principally because of

Minsiterial absences early in the New Year.

A

2.

I attach:

(i) an annotated outline of the paper. We have commented on a

number of minor aspects;

B

(ii)

C

(iii)

a first draft of Chapter III on direct elections;

a first draft of the concluding Chapter VIII on the way

forward.

We shall be commenting on (ii) and (iii) on 21 December, and the drafts will then be considered by ExCo on 22 December.

At very first sight (the texts were received in the last hour or so) they are generally on the right lines, although the drafting is on the wordy side and there are a number of details to be tightened up. But the key element is the "appropriate reference" to the Basic Law, which occurs in paragraph 7 of (ii). This looks acceptable as a starting position in a paper to be put to the Chinese: but the Chinese may well press for a closer link, both in terms of conditionality and in terms of the structure of the text, between the reference to the Basic Law and the decision that direct

elections should be introduced in 1991.

SECRET