Functional constituency elections for the Legislative Council are indirect elections and must not be turned into de facto direct elections on an occupational basis, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 10 years ago. In the February 1994 statement, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said the Chinese and British sides had long reached an understanding that regarded the functional constituencies system as a form of indirect election. The statement was released a few months after the Sino-British talks on Hong Kong's electoral arrangements for 1994 and 1995 broke down in November 1993. The 'through-train' arrangements, under which members of the last colonial legislature were to become members of the first legislature of the special administrative region, were derailed. Beijing opposed then governor Chris Patten's proposal to introduce new functional constituencies in 1995 Legco elections, saying it would amount to de facto direct elections on an occupational basis.
