TNAG-2717-FCO40-3923-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 11

that, as I have tried to point out in my memorandum, we did our best to push it forward with a number of directly elected seats and so forth, in the face of a great deal of Chinese opposition. In the end, in the exchanges of 1989/90, we succeeded in pushing it really quite far, given the climate in Peking at the time. The results were embodied in the Basic Law and, if you recall, that provides for a steadily rising curve of directly elected seats going up into the next century. That was something the Chinese have signed up to, that is something we still have, unless we want to tear the whole structure down. We have done pretty well for Hong Kong in terms of democracy in very difficult situations.

One of my worries is this, and I would like to put this to the Committee if I may, at the risk of speaking for an inordinate time. My main point is that, by doing what we seem now to be doing, that is, going for confrontation and unilateral legislation, we shall harm democracy, the rule of law, and the attributes of a free and open society in Hong Kong. We are embarking upon a highly self-defeating policy. Let me explain why that is so. The Chinese have made it absolutely plain that, if we go ahead as we now seem to be doing, they will dismantle the legislature in 1997 and set up their own assembly. There is no doubt in my mind that they will do that and we should not take any risk on that point. The effect will be that, after two years, no more, of rather improved democracy in Hong Kong (from the 1995 elections up to 1997) the structure will be dismantled. We shall have a subservient legislature and democracy will be permanently damaged in Hong Kong, not just for a few years but for good. So that on this, the central aspect of the Governor's policy, it is entirely self-destructive.

Let me turn to the rule of law. The Governor has stressed this as vitally important at the present time but he seems to forget that the rule of law depends absolutely on the sanctity of the Joint Declaration. All the provisions are contained in Annex 1 of the Joint Declaration. By what we are doing now, we are putting at the very least, strain on the Chinese commitment to the Joint Declaration. If we act unilaterally we give them

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