TNAG-1721-FCO40-2401-Hong-Kong-1987-Review-of-Representative-Government-delegati-1988 — Page 93

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5. The Secretary of State said he believed it was necessary to

look at the facts of geography and the relationship between Hong

Kong and China. The two sides did not start in equal positions: one was operating on the basis of a leasehold tenure. The Joint Declaration constituted a greater commitment to preserve Hong Kong's

future than many had expected. But the BLDC was a Chinese

institution in which Mr Lee was playing his part. We all shared the

aim and the expectation that what emerged from the BLDC would be in

line with the Joint Declaration. The British and Hong Kong

Governments were working to achieve the best prospect of continuity:

there were no grounds for believing otherwise.

6. The British Government had always done its utmost for Hong

Kong, both in the JLG and in the translation of the Joint

Declaration into the Basic Law. There was no question of trading

one for the other. All were elements in a durable structure of

autonomy: it would be wrong to underestimate the effect for

confidence of the steady aggregation of those elements.

7. The Secretary of State asked whether Mr Lee was really sure he

was doing all he could to make the future work. His letter to the

Prime Minister has referred to broken promises.

His latest paper

suggested that promises were broken except in a technical sense. How could he support either claim?

8. Mr Lee suggested that all the actions of the British Government had to be looked at together. Everybody in Hong Kong had felt that

direct elections would be introduced in 1988. It was not right for

the Hong Kong Government to resile. The Secretary of State noted Mr Lee's perception was not shared by others or by the Survey Office

report. He quoted from the 1984 White Paper to demonstrate that

there had been no commitment to direct elections in 1988, only a

description of public opinion at the time. The Survey Office report

showed clearly that there was now no firm view among Hong Kong people on this point.

9. The Secretary of State said he was concerned by the style of Mr

Lee's advocacy. He was taking his perception of opinion as the universal opinion. What effect did his claims have on confidence in

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