TNAG-2991-FCO40-3566-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-1992 — Page 46

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5. I am hesitant about your idea (your para 6) that "a broad outline of our opening position" should be given in the Governor's LegCo address in October. In terms of substance, this would seem to commit us to a public negotiation, with all the attendant disadvantages. In terms of timing that seems a little early in relation to the Party Congress in October/November. I would prefer our earlier scenario which would involve the statement of "principles" and no more in the LegCo address. (The constitutional substance in the address would be the proposals relating to ExCo, LegCo and the relationship between them.) I agree however that we would need to find ways of maintaining the public credibility of our position even while engaging in confidential negotiation with the Chinese. A LegCo debate would certainly be one way of doing this, even if the basis of that debate was a rather vaguer statement of the Hong Kong Government's position than you have in mind. The views that would be aired in that debate would be likely on balance to assist us by demonstrating that a moderate and non-confrontational line had majority support.

6. I see no alternative to a further LegCo debate as our vehicle for demonstrating at the end of the day that Hong Kong opinion supported what we had achieved. I am not at all attracted by a referendum: this was of course ruled out at earlier key stages when we needed to test Hong Kong opinion, and for reasons which still obtain today. Advancing LegCo elections would create more problems than it solved. Perhaps the best answer would be to use the most conventional bureaucratic device. The Hong Kong Government would issue a White Paper setting out arrangements for the 1995 elections and the lower-level elections leading up to them, as it has done at similar points in the past, and LegCo would simply debate and vote upon a motion to approve it. As you say, it is likely but not certain that the result would be a vote in support of the Hong Kong Government's proposals.

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