TNAG-2702-FCO40-3908-Memoirs-of-Sir-Percy-Cradock--diplomat-and-sinologist-1993 — Page 74

The negotiations,

however,

proved fruitless.

They wound on into the summer, the autumn and the winter of

1993, seventeen rounds in all, over a hundred and sixty

Some hours of talks. But they made no 'progress: though the

British offered some significant concessions, the Chinese

On the major in proved unyielding. This rigidity no doubt reflected the

fact that they had been taken to the limit of their

tolerance by the earlier negotiations: they had reached a

political settlement and, as they had repeatedly warned,

they were not prepared to reopen it. But it may also have

reflected uncertainty in Peking about the succession to

Deng Xiaoping: noone had the confidence to be flexible.

For the Hong Kong government there were apparently also

technical constraints: dates before which legislation had

to be passed if it was to be ready for the district

elections of 1994 and the legislative elections

of

1995.

At the time of writing (the end of November 1993)

it is clear that the talks have collapsed and, though the

consequential decisions have not yet been taken, it seems

highly likely that the British and Hong Kong governments

are now prepared to take unilateral action and to submit

the Patten proposals in some form to the Legislative

Council.

If this course is followed, we must expect a

renewed and probably final confrontation with China. The

Legislative Council may of course refuse the cup put to

them and cast out the proposals; or they may pass only a

watered-down version. But it is unlikely that these

ici