TNAG-2717-FCO40-3923-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 22

are going down, would be to try to offer Hong Kong some reality of democracy, and not accept an emasculation at the hands of the Chinese. As a result of that, the Chinese, if they wish to try and strip away democracy after 1997, would then have to take on the whole international community as well as the British Government, and the Chinese would know that could endanger their most favoured nation trading status, could endanger other key objectives which they are trying to fulfil from the international community, and they are not likely to jeopardise some of their key long term objectives in the international community by virtue of what they do in Hong Kong. That is how the argument runs, namely that your course will actually produce the worst result for Hong Kong.

Sir Percy Cradock:

Thank you for putting

the

alternative argument to me; I do not think it will stand up to very much scrutiny, if I may say so, and although I have not had much time to prepare an answer, there are some obvious points I will put to you straight away.

You say that if we accept the terms that are offered us, and they are pretty poor terms I agree, it would result in a total emasculation of any democracy in Hong Kong. With respect I think you misunderstand the situation. If we accept the Chinese terms, we are back in the situation we are now in Hong Kong; we are back to the situation existing, or set up, after the 1990 agreement. We are back to the situation in which the 1991 elections were held for LegCo. Are you suggesting that that was a situation of emasculated democracy? That those elections of 1991 in which the United Democrats did so well, were rigged? What we are now asked to continue with is the present situation in Hong Kong. entirely reject suggestions which seem to be coming, for example from Government House, that the electoral status of Hong Kong at the moment is corrupt, and unless the Patten reforms are carried through, all elections will be rigged. I do not think that follows at all. Nor was it something that we here believed in 1991; we were pretty satisfied with the situation.

So when you say that if we

accept the terms, democracy will be entirely emasculated, that flies in the face of facts.

Now I

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