TNAG-2010-FCO40-2862-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-General-Election-Com-1990 — Page 77

CONFIDENTIAL

FM HONG KONG

TO IMMEDIATE FCO

TELNO 339

OF 25114OZ JANUARY 90

CONFIDENTIAL

16

052217 MDHIAN 3871

HKB

01214

RECEIVED IN

Y

Pm

DESI

0 2FEB 1990

INDEX

INFO PRIORITY PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG

Rom

1

BASIC LAW DRAFTING COMMITTEE MEETING IN GUANGZHOU: DISTRICT REACTIONS IN HON KONG

1. YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN THE REACTIONS AT GRASS ROOTS LEVEL TO THE BLDC MEETING LAST WEEK, AS CULLED BY THE 19 DISTRICT OFFICES HERE.

2. IN GENERAL THE MOOD WAS OVERWHELMINGLY ONE OF DISAPPOINTMENT, DISMAY AND PESSIMISM. THERE WAS GRAVE DOUBT OVER WHETHER THE ''ONE COUNTRY TWO SYSTEMS'' AND ''HIGH DEGREE OF AUTONOMY'' CONCEPTS WOULD BE REALISED. MOST PEOPLE FELT THAT CHINA WAS IGNORING HONG KONG OPINIONS AND IMPOSING HER WILL ON HONG KONG, AND THAT LOCAL CONFIDENCE WOULD BE FURTHER ERODED AND THE BRAIN DRAIN WOULD ACCELERATE.

3 THERE WERE MIXED REACTIONS TO THE HONG KONG DRAFTERS' PERFORMANCE. SOME CONSIDERED THAT THE HONG KONG MEMBERS AT THE MEETING DID NOT TRY THEIR BEST, AND WERE CONCERNED WITH THEIR OWN PARTISAN INTEREST. SIMON LI AND DOROTHY LIU YIU-CHU WERE CRITICISED FOR BETRAYING HONG KONG TO PANDER TO CHINA'S WISHES. SOME DOUBTED RAYMOND WU'S MOTIVES FOR THE OUTBURSTS ALTHOUGH THERE WERE OTHERS WHO THOUGHT HE ACTED HONOURABLY.

4. THE MAIN STREAM MODEL WHICH WAS PASSED WAS CONSIDERED CONSERVATIVE AND A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT. THE GRASSROOTS DID NOT HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE DETAILS OF THE PROPOSAL AND AS A MATTER OF FACT CARED LESS ABOUT THE DETAILS THAN ABOUT THE UNDEMOCRATIC AND HIGH-HANDED WAY IN WHICH IT WAS PERCEIVED TO HAVE BEEN PASSED. THE BETTER INFORMED THOUGHT THE NUMBER OF DIRECTLY ELECTED SEATS FOR 1997 WAS TOO SMALL. SOME SUGGESTED THAT HMG SHOULD STAND FIRM AND GIVE HONG KONG NOW A DEMOCRATIC MODEL SUITED TO ITS PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES. ON QUESTION OF CONVERGENCE, WHILE SOME BELIEVED THE DEMOCRATIC NEEDS OF HONG KONG PEOPLE SHOULD BE GIVEN PRIORITY OVER THE NEED FOR CONVERGENCE WITH THE CHINESE MODEL, OTHERS CAUTIONED THAT FAILURE TO CONVERGE WOULD BRING INSTABILITY TO HONG KONG IN 1997. A FEW PROFESSIONALS AND

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CONFIDENTIAL