popular parties won seats.
They were not even prepared to confirm that the voting age should be 18, as it is in Britain and China. Most worryingly, they undermined the whole point of reaching agreement on the electoral arrangements for the 1995 Legislative Council by declining to discuss objective criteria for deciding which Legislative Councillors elected in 1995 could serve beyond 1997.
10. We went as far as we could to bridge the gap. But we found no corresponding willingness on the Chinese side to make the effort needed to reach an agreement. We were not prepared to reach a deal at any price. After seven months of talks, time has run out. We now need to get on with the legislation to enable the elections to be held on time. We intend to
fulfil our responsibilities for the administration of Hong Kong up until 1 July 1997. The Governor [has therefore submitted] draft legislation on electoral arrangements to the Legislative Council. The third part of this White Paper sets out the main points from this draft legislation. It is fully consistent with the Joint Declaration, Basic Law and previous agreements. There is therefore no reason why Legislative Councillors elected in 1995 could not serve through to 1999 as envisaged in the Basic Law. We commend this draft to the Hong Kong Legislative Council. It will now be for them to weigh up all the circumstances and pass legislation in the best
interests of Hong Kong. This is a heavy responsibility, but it is right that the representatives of Hong Kong's community
BUL / Late should take these decisions. (We and the Governor have
consistently said that we cannot go further than the people of Hong Kong wish us to go. We will respect the decision of the Legislative Council.
11. Although it was not possible to reach agreement in these talks, we remain committed to cooperation with China on Hong Kong. It is common sense that this is the best way to promote
statement26.8/BRIEFS/NJH
4
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.