TNAG-2734-FCO40-3942-Hong-Kong-role-of-the-Legislative-Council-(LEGCO)-1993 — Page 145

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8.

No-one should imagine that these discussions are going to

be easy. They will not be. For our part, we will try

sincerely to achieve success in these talks, to bridge the

differences between both sides and to identify the common

ground, while remaining true to the undertakings we have given

to you and to the people of Hong Kong that the arrangements for the elections should be fair, open and acceptable to the community. We have not travelled this far only to abandon

those undertakings now. But equally we would be doing less

than our duty to the community we serve if we did not enter

these talks determined to try to the best of our ability to

bring them to a successful and honourable conclusion. So we

enter these discussions in a positive spirit, while not

underestimating the difficulties of securing agreement on terms

that could honourably be recommended to the community whose

best interests we seek to serve.

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