THE CONSTITUTIONAL PACKAGE
101. The best guarantee of Hong Kong's prosperity for as far ahead as any of us can see or envisage is to protect our way of life. The continuation of Hong Kong's way of life is a major concern of the Joint Declaration, which my predecessor, the late Sir Edward Youde, played such a prominent part in negotiating. An integral part of this way of life of what is called our "system"-is the participation of individual citizens in the conduct of Hong Kong's affairs. The pace at which we broaden this participation, and the bounds to which we can extend it, lie at the heart of much public debate here and elsewhere. This discussion about democracy in Hong Kong is one on which I wish to make my own beliefs and objectives clear. The sooner we can resolve the important issues at stake in a way which satisfies our own community, and I hope our friends in China and the United Kingdom, the better. But I begin with the assumption that unless the people of Hong Kong are content with the final outcome, it is unlikely to work as well as everyone, from here to Peking and London and back again, would surely wish.
102. In the debate about the pace of democratisation, there are two sides. First, there are those who demand the maximum immediate progress, appealing to Hong Kong's obvious sophistication and maturity, whether measured in terms of economic achievement, educational standards, or any other index of development. Second, we have those who argue that every society must develop its democratic institutions at its own pace-that to force the pace will put a strain on our unique constitutional arrangements and make convergence difficult in 1997.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
103. I owe it to the community to make my own position plain. I have spent my entire career engaged in a political system based on representative democracy. It would be surprising if that had not marked me. It has. I have always been moved by Isaiah Berlin's description of democracy as "the view that the promotion of social justice and individual liberty does not necessarily mean the end of all efficient
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