TOKYO : Focus on Hong Kong
Hong Kong Gov. Chris Patten is expected to seek endorsements for his controversial democratic reforms during three days of talks in Tokyo beginning Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa.
Patten’s plan, which would effectively allow citizens to elect the majority of their legislators for the first time in 1995, has angered China, which has threatened to reverse them after the British colony reverts to Chinese rule in 1997. Beijing claims the reforms violate terms of a 1984 Sino-British agreement on Hong Kong’s future--a charge the British side rejects.
The issue puts Japan in a ticklish position of trying to balance international expectations that it support democratic reforms against the risk of offending China.
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