§ Sir Thomas ArnoldTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made of the consistency with the Basic Law of the proposals for democracy in Hong Kong; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GoodladWe and the Governor took full account of the provisions of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law in developing the proposals that he announced on 7 October. We have pressed the Chinese side to change the Basic Law to allow for an increase in the number of 435W directly-elected seats in the Legislative Council for 1995. In view of their position that this is not possible, the Governor has set out in parallel an alternative approach. That is the approach on which we are concentrating at present. We consider that the Governor's proposals are within the terms of the Basic Law.