SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
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Secret
Confidential
Restricted
DSR 11C (Revised 5/87)
Government's White Paper published in February 1988,
announced that in 1991 ten seats would be open for direct
election from geographical constituencies, replacing ten
seats presently elected by district based electoral
college constituencies.
Unclassified
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
29. The White Paper was widely welcomed in Hong Kong as
a significant step forward in the territory's
constitutional developoment. It confirmed the commitment
of the British and Hong Kong Governments to the steady
development of representative government in Hong Kong, in
line with the wishes of the community as a whole and at a
pace that would command general confidence and the widest
possible support. The decisions in the White Paper were
taken by the British and Hong Kong Governments on the
basis of their judgement of what would best suit Hong
Kong's circumstances and Hong Kong's interests.
steadily evolving system envisaged in the White Paper
will ensure that representative government is well
established before 1997 and that it can continue to
evolve smoothly and progressively in the years
thereafter.
The
30. There is a body of opinion in Hong Kong which
claims that promises were made in the 1984 White Paper to
hold direct elections in 1988; and that these promises
were not fulfilled. There is no basis for this
allegation. The 1984 White Paper undertook only to
review the position in 1983: that undertaking was
carried out fully and to the letter.
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