HONG KONG: DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT
1.
Following the events in early June 1989 in China there
was growing pressure in Hong Kong for a faster pace of democratisation than was set out in the 1988 Hong Kong Government White Paper which made provision for 10 directly elected seats in 1991. The unofficial members of the
Executive and Legislative Councils (OMELCO) recommended on
27 July that one third of the Legislative Council should be
directly elected in 1991 and that there should be no less
than 50% directly elected members of LegCo in 1995 (which
would run through 1997). However these percentages were higher than was provided for in the second draft of the
Basic Law, which only envisaged 15 seats in 1995/7. There
followed a period of tough negotiations between the Chinese and British Governments about Hong Kong's future political development, stressing the importance of a more rapid
process than was envisaged in the second draft of the Basic
Law and the need to ensure that the political system as a whole was one which Hong Kong people would find acceptable.
2.
On 16 February 1990 the Foreign and Commonwealth
Secretary announced the Government's intention to introduce
18 directly elected seats in 1991 and at least 20 in 1995.
This is a substantially greater first step towards full democracy in Hong Kong than was planned two years ago. The final version of the Basic Law provided further progression from 1997 onwards, rising to 24 seats in 1999 and 30 seats (fifty percent of the legislature the remainder being
indirectly elected members) in 2003, with the possibility
that full direct elections could be introduced in 2007.
3.
Most people in Hong Kong welcome the fact that a clear
direction has now been set and that a major uncertainty for
the future of the territory has been removed. This reaction
was reflected in the positive and forward-looking statement issued by OMELCO in February. The community in Hong Kong
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