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3. The visit to Peking the previous week by the Cooperative Resources delegation led by Allen Lee, was seen by many as open confirmation of the realignment of political forces in Hong Kong which had been taking place since last September, with the old Hong Kong establishment and Peking on the one side and the United Democrats and Britain on the other. Superficially the LegCo session on 24 June confirmed this view, with UDHK and other Liberals lined up against the CRC and pro-China representatives in what was on occasion an uncharacteristically acrimonious debate, including a fair amount of personal abuse directed at Allen Lee for being a turncoat. But I think the divide may be less stark than it seems and that there is common ground to be found. The debate is over pace rather than principle and means rather than ends. What sharpens it are differences of style, education, generation and the different interest groups the two sides represent.
4.
There is at bottom a strong desire for the voice of Hong Kong people to be listened to. All the stronger perhaps, because, as they know full well, they are denied the possiblity of making the crucial decisions about their future. This frustration is what lies beneath the 'plaque on both your houses' attitude, which was expressed for once so clearly (albeit still fairly decorously) by Baroness Dunn in the House of Lords last month. Noone in Hong Kong since Tiananmen harbours any illusions over China's democratic credentials. But there is also resentment and mistrust over Britain's attitude. This was clearly expressed both in the LegCo debate and by others to whom I spoke. Failure to go for direct elections in 1988; failure to "stand up to China" and push through the OMELCO consensus in 1990; and now, when it is too late, we are seen as stirring up unnecessary trouble with China by playing to the Westminster gallery and holding out false hopes to Hong Kong of more democracy.
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