CONFIDENTIAL
committed to press at some point for amendment to permit a faster pace of democratisation, and it would be natural to raise the nationality qualifications at the same time. We judged that it would be counter-productive for the Prime Minister to spell out either point during his visit to Peking, but the general marker which he put down with Li Peng was designed to cover both: "Britain and China would need to discuss arrangements for the 1995 elections, including relevant provisions of the Basic Law". This provides a peg to raise the issue in the future if there is any prospect of securing agreement. But we consider it best to avoid any explicit commitment
that we shall pursue the point.
to
Youss cares
Christopher Prentice.
(CNR Prentice)
Private Secretary
Stephen Wall Esq 10 Downing Street
CONFIDENTIAL
Redacted under FOI exemptions 27(1), 40(2) and 41.
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