It would have been easy for China to give Hong Kong a much needed boost of confidence when it released the new draft of the Basic Law, which will govern the territory after Britain relinquishes control and Beijing takes over in 1997. The Hong Kong members of the drafting committee wanted nothing more than | a modest increase in the number of directly elected legislators after 1997. As it was, only 18 out of 60 seats were to be filled by open ballot. Since Tiananmen Square, however, Hong Kong's top priority has been to increase that allotment as a hedge against...
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