TNAG-2990-FCO40-3574-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-talks-betwee-1992 — Page 153

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FROM: P F Ricketts

Hong Kong Department

DATE: 23 October 1992

cc: Miss Brooks,

Legal Advisers

Ms Everett, News Dept Mr Morris

Miss Saunders

HONG KONG: ELECTION COMMITTEE

1.

The line to take I prepared for News Department earlier today contains a holding line on the Chinese allegations that we have shown bad faith over the composition of the Election Committee.

2. If the Chinese choose to publish the texts, we shall need more detail rapidly. I attach the three key papers as

follows:

-

This was a

FCO telno 98 to Peking of 5 November 1990. paper for handing over to the Chinese side containing proposals on the establishment of the Election Committee.

Peking telno 191 of 8 November 1990 with a response from Qian which, inter alia comments on these points.

FCO telno 119 to Peking of 9 February 1990, which gives the Secretary of State's reply to Qian containing the sentence "I agree in principle with the arrangements which you propose for an Electoral Committee, which could be established in 1995. The precise details of how this should be done can be discussed between our two sides in due course."

If the Chinese side publish these texts, the points to make are as follows:

3.

These exchanges occurred as part of a wider discussion between the British and Chinese sides. We were seeking to influence the final content of the Basic Law as regards the 1995 LegCo elections and other matters.

This context is important. We made clear (see for example para 2 of FCO telno 98) that we were willing in principle to cooperate with the Chinese side in introducing the arrangements under discussion in 1995, provided that our two Governments reached an understanding on satisfactory

election.cttee.GEN.bern

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