TNAG-2990-FCO40-3574-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-talks-betwee-1992 — Page 149

From:

Miss S Brooks Legal Counsellor

Date:

22 October 1992

eslu

і. Сози

Mr Ricketts HKD

7.

Miss Samolas

Pl. now draft a

telegram

ELECTION COMMITTEE

in supported public have

Is it felting out

Should Hte Chinese

West

the for

& M. Cavetten

publish or quale from the Mariterial exchange- including a defensive fire in the point in plivas J-L- 1.

We have spoken about the matter raised in Peking Telno 1457 Suba of 21 October. The Chinese are accusing us of bad faith in that the Election Committee proposed for the 1995 elections does not, in their view, correspond to the composition and ratio of the Election Committee specified in the Basic Law, Annex 1, paragraph 2. In particular, they rely on the message from Qian Qichen of 6/8 February 1990 that the composition and ratio of the Election Committee specified in the Basic Law, Annex 1 paragraph 2, must be followed.

2.

The

The problem is that the Chinese message was inherently ambiguous. It is unclear from the record whether the Chinese side were including a reference to the Election Committee for the first term of the Legislative Council of the HKSAR with which the 1995 Election Committee is supposed to converge. reply to Qian Qichen based on FCO Telno 119 of 9 February 1990 agreed with the arrangements proposed by the Chinese side, but given the inherent ambiguity of the Chinese statement what it was we agreed is not entirely clear.

3.

Lu Ping has claimed that our reply of 9 February 1990 accepted the composition of the Election Committee as proposed by the Chinese, but the Governor has noted the Basic Law, Annex 2, paragraph 2 makes it clear that the Election Committee to which the Chinese had been referring in their message was not the one for the First SAR legislature. The Basic Law, Annex 2 paragraph 2 certainly does make an exception in the case of the first Legislative Council. Paragraph 2 provides that subsequent Election Committees are to be composed in the way set out in the Basic Law, Annex 1 (ie paragraphs 2 and 3 and supplemented by Annex 2, paragraph 2). The division of geographical constituencies, the voting method for direct elections, the delimitation of functional sectors etc of subsequent Legislative Councils are to be specified by

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