CONFIDENTIAL
legislature and will give China more opportunities to manipulate the legislature through pro-China elements in it.
Assessment
In the
9. On the information available, the differential voting procedures would seem to have little practical effect in the case of government bills (since the Government can simply apply minimal amendments and re-submit subject only to simple majority). They would, however, make legislative procedures very clumsy and time-consuming. case of private member bills, the effect could cut both ways, directly elected members will be better placed to block proposals by functional constituency members as well as vice versa. This is not strictly a convergence problem, since the same legislature can vote in two different ways before and after 1997. But there is likely to be a confidence problem and Hong Kong opinion is already seriously unhappy with what is proposed. The issue has become a major problem because it is seen as China's unilateral imposition of its wishes on Hong Kong against strong local objection, for the sake of giving face to the pro-China supporters of bicameralism. There are reports that a number of the groups, including pro-China ones, are taking this view. Hong Kong therefore considers that we should continue efforts to persuade the Chinese to drop these provisions.
CONFIDENTIAL
Hong Kong Department
25 January 1990
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