TNAG-2714-FCO40-3920-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 131

ACTIONS WITHIN HONG KONG

(i) Progress towards Representative Government

10. The Committee noted in its Report the importance of the

events of Tiananmen Square in changing and intensifying the

concerns of Hong Kong people.

11. This was particularly apparent in the debate over the pace

of democratic development, notably over the question of elections to the Legislative Council. In 1989 just under half the

membership of the Legislative Council was indirectly elected, the

rest being appointed or official members. The Hong Kong Government's policy at that time, following an extensive

consultation exercise in 1987, was that in the elections to the

Council due in 1991, there should for the first time be 10

directly-elected seats. After June 1989 pressure grew in Hong Kong for a much faster rate of progress. But many people also attached importance to ensuring continuity in arrangements for the

Legislative Council beyond 1997 (the "through train"). There

followed a period of intensive exchanges between the British and

Chinese Governments about the electoral provisions to be included

in the Basic Law. As a result the final version of the Basic Law

provided for an increased number of directly-elected seats in the legislature from the time at which the Basic Law comes into force,

in July 1997. The Basic Law provided for 20 out of the 60 seats

to be directly elected at that time. The Government therefore

decided that there would be 18 directly-elected seats in the 1991

Legislative Council elections, and at least 20 in the final

elections under British sovereignty, in 1995. The Secretary of

State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs also made it clear to

the House (16 February 1990) that we would continue to press the

case for a faster pace of democratisation.

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