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international partners to follow our lead in providing
assurances to Hong Kong people which will give them the
confidence to remain in the territory. A few countries
are already taking action of this kind: the other
countries we have approached have undertaken to consider
our proposal.
We also discussed constitutional development and the
evolution of Hong Kong's political structure.
We remain convinced that the Joint Declaration is the
right basis for Hong Kong's future and are committed to
making it work. Drafting has now been completed on the
Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,
which is a stipulation of the basic policies of the
People's Republic of China towards Hong Kong as set out
in the Joint Declaration. The provisions in the Basic
Law concerning the future political structure have
aroused particular interest in Hong Kong and elsewhere.
Our aim has always been to establish in Hong Kong a
system of government which includes a substantial element
of democracy and which can endure and develop after 1997.
As I said in my statement in the House of Commons on
16 February, I believe that the arrangements set out in
the Basic Law and our decision about the introduction of
direct elections to the legislature in 1991, taken
together, make good sense for Hong Kong. They 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. This rate of progress is not as
rapid as many people in Hong Kong, or we ourselves, would
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Private notes are available after approval.