TNAG-2734-FCO40-3942-Hong-Kong-role-of-the-Legislative-Council-(LEGCO)-1993 — Page 39

31 March 1993

Mr

31/7

HKD

pu. Leglo

37

M. Man's!! Mr Sunke me будет

HKB 012/3

*ED

MS Foreign &

RECE IN REGISTRY

06 APR 293

Commonwealth

Office

London SWIA 2AH

INDEX

ESK

PA

REGISTRY Action Taken

From The Secretary of State

Росси

Ins. Tu

Thank you for your letter of 16 March.

I know that you have worked long and hard over many years on behalf of your constituents. However, I believe you seriously misjudge the Governor and what he is trying to do. He has the best interests of the people of Hong Kong at heart, and he has my and the Prime Minister's full

support.

Let me comment on some of your points. We are not suggesting that Hong Kong should be a separate party at negotiations with China. We believe that Hong Kong Government representatives should participate as members of the British team, as they have done in previous

negotiations over the last decade. This is only reasonable when the talks are about an important aspect of Hong Kong's future.

Nor do we see a contradiction between a modest

increase in democratic representation, and a smooth

transition in 1997. We want to discuss all this with China

and, as you know, we have been trying to arrange that.

The Honourable Mrs Elsie Tu, CBE