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Council which, we hope, will continue on a "through train" to 1999. To ensure the "through train" we have undertaken to use for the 1995 elections the framework laid down in the Basic Law. For the "through train" to be successful the Chinese will have to agree the various elements of how to get on to the train. We should be under no illusions: this is not going to be easy. A significant problem will be timing. The Chinese will be in no hurry. They will fail to understand that preparing for, and setting up, elections takes a great deal of advance work.
One of the first things we will have to do is set up a Boundary Commission to establish constituency boundaries. Boundaries cannot be established without knowing how many constituencies there will be. That brings us straight into the question of the number of directly elected seats. We have just had a meeting of ExCo to discuss our general approach on these issues. have asked for a timetable to be set out working back from the date by which decisions or action are needed.
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All this will be discussed in the ordinary telegram series. Here it is only necessary to make the point that discussions are going to be necessary with the Chinese quite soon; many parts of them will be difficult going; and the subject is one with considerable political resonance in Westminster as well as Hong Kong.
On the number of directly elected seats in 1995, we must be very clear-headed. I can see the political attractions, in Westminster terms, of "facing down" the Chinese and making a unilateral decision to increase the number of directly elected seats beyond that allowed for in the Basic Law. But it would a Pyrrhic victory. The Chinese would not be "faced down". Rather, the "through train" would be derailed by our own actions. Is that in Hong Kong's interests? Will it be seen as such by responsible opinion as we get near 1995? I doubt both.
On some of the Chinese stupidities in the Basic Law, such as the 20% limit on those with right or abode elsewhere, it is easy enough to ask the Chinese how they propose to achieve this. At the end of the day however, like on so many other things, we will find ourselves exercising our imagination on how to pull Chinese chestnuts out of the fire - however unpalatable that may
seem now.
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