TNAG-2715-FCO40-3921-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 102

FAC ENQUIRY: NOTE ON HONG KONG

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1. The FCO prepared a memorandum on Hong Kong in March to

update the Committee on events since the Government's

observations (December 1989 and May 1990) on the Committee's

Report on Hong Kong in 1989. There have been further developments over the past six months in the following areas:

TALKS WITH CHINA ON ELECTION ARRANGEMENTS FOR 1994/95

2.

Mr Goodlad set out Her Majesty's Government's essential

requirements from these talks in his evidence on 9 July.

are:

These

First, elections which are fair, open and acceptable to the

people of Hong Kong.

-

Second, objective criteria for determining eligibility of

members of LegCo elected in 1995 to serve through until 1999. This is the so-called "through train".

They are dealing

3. There have now been 12 Rounds of talks.

with issues of substance, in particular the nine new functional

constituencies which will need to be created for the 1995

Legislative Council elections; the formation of an Election

Committee to elect 10 members of the Legislative Council, and

the crucial issue for the British side of criteria for the

through train. Progress has been disappointing. There remains a significant gap between the two sides. For practical reasons, there is not much time left in which to reach an agreement. Legislative Council will need time to consider and pass the

necessary legislation so that fair and open elections can be

held in 1994 and 1995.

The

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