TNAG-2712-FCO40-3918-Parliamentary-relations-draft-White-Paper-on-Representative--1993 — Page 87

The Governor's proposals of October 1992 with our full support

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which were made

answered this question. They provided

for a modest development of democracy, which was fully compatible with the Joint Declaration, the Basic Law and any relevant agreements between Britain and China. The objective which underpins our whole approach is that electoral

arrangements should be fair, open and acceptable to the people of Hong Kong.

The Governor's proposals were well received in Hong Kong. Despite the hostile Chinese reaction, we persevered with efforts to get talks underway and eventually agreed a basis for talks, which opened in April 1993. The second part of this White Paper gives a full account of these talks. It shows that we were prepared to make significant moves on two important aspects of the Governor's proposals, the Functional Constituencies and the Election Committee, provided that the overall package met our essential requirements. (It also shows that the Chinese side were not willing to make any significant move to bridge the gap. The third part of the White Paper analyses in more detail the specific proposals advanced by

both sides.

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The balance sheet is clear. Our proposals, even after substantial revisions in an effort to meet Chinese concerns, would produce electoral arrangements that were fair, open and, in our judgement, acceptable to the people of Hong Kong. The Chinese side's proposals as they emerged in the talks would not. Stripped of the arcane detail, they proposed electoral arrangements which would have restricted choice and maximised

elections! China's capacity to influence the result. They proposed retaining appointed membership on the District Boards and Municipal Councils. They proposed freezing all development in

the 21 existing functional constituencies, despite the

statememt 26.8/BRIEFS/NJH

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