TNAG-2713-FCO40-3919-Parliamentary-relations-draft-White-Paper-on-Representative--1993 — Page 86

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ONG KONG.

Conclusion and Way Forward

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75.

As the preceding Section makes clear, many of the individual issues covered in the talks were, in themselves, quite technical. But the fundamental difference between the two sides was simple. The proposals put forward by the British and Hong Kong Governments were, in essence, designed to produce a Legislative Council and district organisations that would truly and demonstrably represent the interests of Hong Kong and its community, thereby embodying the concept "Hong Kong run by

Hong Kong people". The Chinese side wanted far more restrictive electoral arrangements, with far fewer voters. smallest of their proposed new functional constituencies would have had an electorate of under ioo. Such arrangements would be vulnerable to corruption and manipulation, and would not, in the view of the British and Hong Kong Government, guarantee elected institutions likely to reflect in undistorted form the interests of the people they represent.

76.

The

Over the past year, some observers have argued that an agreement should be reached at any cost, on the grounds that the consequences of failure to reach agreement would be too

Per Majeth fovernment and the serious. As this White Paper explains, the British and Hong Kong Government have done everything possible to try to secure an acceptable agreement. But they do not agree that a flawed agreement on the lines demanded by the Chinese side is better than none. The consequences for Hong Kong of the electoral arrangements proposed by the Chinese would themselves be very

serious.

77.

The central objective of the Joint Declaration is to preserve Hong Kong's stability and prosperity, and the open society on which these are based. At the heart of this, and of Hong Kong's success over the years, is the rule of law, and equally important the confidence, in Hong Kong itself and internationally, that this will be maintained come what may

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