Government shall not shirk. However Hong Kong is also an international centre, with huge international investment. It has been made clear to other governments, both bilaterally and in international fora, that Hong Kong's major trading partners have a strong interest in the territory's continuing stability and prosperity. The Government will continue its efforts to mobilise the international community to follow the lead in supporting Hong Kong in whatever ways they can, including the introduction of assurances schemes similar to our own.
On the question of the stationing of People's Liberation Army troops in Hong Kong after 1997, the Government are aware that this is an issue causing concern among people in Hong Kong. The 1984 Joint Declaration provides for China to station military forces in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region after 1997 for the purposes of defence. It stipulates that those military forces shall not interfere in the internal affairs of the Special Administrative Region. The Chinese Government have been urged to take Hong Kong's sensitivities fully into account in their handling of this question, and the British Government believe that they are in no doubt about the importance of this issue for confidence in Hong Kong.
You mention democracy. I enclose a copy of the statement which the Foreign Secretary made in the House of Commons on
16 February. The Government believe that the proposals which emerged from the Basic Law Drafting Committee in Peking last month are a considerable improvement on the earlier position and that this outcome is one they can reasonably commend to Hong Kong as a basis for the future.
The introduction of 18 directly elected seats in the legislature in 1991 will mark an important step forward in the development of democracy in Hong Kong. Its significance should certainly not be underrated.
This decision is just two seats below the proposal put forward by the Hong Kong Executive and Legislative Councils (OMELCO) but substantially more than the ten seats which were originally envisaged in Hong Kong's 1988 White Paper. In return for this small concession, the Government have secured from the Chinese the improvements in the draft Basic Law outline in the sttement. This will provide for a continuous upward slope in the development of democracy from 18 seats in 1991 to 30 seats in 2003, with the possibility that full direct elections could be introduced in 2007.
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