TNAG-2621-FCO40-3812-Visits-by-Alastair-Goodlad--Minister-of-State-for-Foreign-an-1992 — Page 123

CONFIDENTIAL

overseas visit as Minister is to Hong Kong in order to

update his previous experience of the territory and to hear at first hand the views of Hong Kong people.

3.

The programme (current version attached) reflects the Minister's comments. It includes plenty of activities outside the Government/LegCo circuit, which should play

well.

4. On many of his visits and calls, the Minister will be

looking to his hosts to brief him. We have therefore

focused the briefing on checklists for the key occasions on

which the Minister will be expected to set out HMG's views:

the various meetings with local politicians (one composite

checklist); and the meeting with Zhou Nan (Director of the

New China News Agency in Hong Kong: effectively China's

representative in the Territory). The main issues which are

likely to recur in many of the discussions are set out

below.

The 1995 Elections

5.

This will be a hot topic. Politicans will press the

Minister to say when we plan to raise the issue of

directly-elected seats with the Chinese.

Other items on

the agenda for the Chinese will have to include the Election

Committee, additional functional constituencies, and the 20%

Nationality Rule. Other issues, although within the

competence of the Hong Kong Government, eg, voting age,

voting system and Boundary Commission, will also, in

practice, need to be discussed with the Chinese. Timing is tight. A host of administrative and legislative changes, in some degree dependent on these key decisions, will need to

be agreed and in place by autumn 1993, to be ready for the

1994 District Board Elections. There is a widespread

feeling in Hong Kong that a decision on the number of

RB3ACW/2

CONFIDENTIAL