TNAG-2450-FCO40-3567-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-1992 — Page 127

Prime Minister

SECRET

HONG KONG: CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Chris Patten has been considering the way forward on constitutional development in Hong Kong, and has now sent us his proposals. He will need to describe his approach when he addresses the Legislative Council (LegCo) on 7 October.

I enclose an annex setting out his detailed proposals, and the current draft of this part of his LegCo speech. I discussed the issues with him in Hong Kong in July.

We have two broad objectives in making further constitutional changes in Hong Kong at this stage:

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to ensure that the Hong Kong Government can continue to perform effectively in the more political atmosphere in Hong Kong since the arrival of the first directly-elected LegCo politicians in last September's election. These are matters which relate to the administration of Hong Kong up to 1997 on which the Governor will be announcing decisions, although we should give the Chinese some advance warning;

- to develop a policy for the next LegCo elections in 1995 which will enhance democracy sufficiently to be defensible in Westmister and to international opinion, while maximising the prospects that democratic structures developed before 1997 can continue thereafter. These are points which we shall need to discuss with the Chinese in the interests of continuity and on

honkoncondev. Con.be

SECRET