As the weeks and months tick by, hope becomes a little shadowed by reality. - Governor Chris Patten THE battle to bring a greater measure of democracy to Hong Kong's legislature is now nearing the endgame and that means difficult and dangerous times lie ahead for the people of the territory. The Governor yesterday, in his policy address to the Legislative Council, ritually offered the hope that an agreement with China was still possible on his electoral reform proposals.
But the thrust of his extensive remarks on relations with China was that after 12 rounds and 100 hours of talks, accord with China remained a distant goal. The heady hopes of 12 months ago, when Mr Patten unveiled his plans, had indeed been flattened by the reality of China's opposition.
Mr Patten went out of his way not to set a firm deadline for agreement in the Sino-British talks on the electoral arrangements for 1994 and 1995. ''Weeks rather than months'' was as close as he would come to setting a time limit. Nor did he reveal more of the substance of the talks than had already appeared in the news media over the summer. Britain had made concessions on both the functional constituencies and the election committee but would not compromise on the through train.
We are not prepared to give away our principles in order to sign a piece of paper. What would that be worth? - Chris Patten Yet he left no doubt about his frustration at the way the talks have been going, or about his determination not to continue the talks indefinitely. He dismissed the option of reaching an agreement with China that would not offer fair and open elections. It would be worthless for Britain to throw away that principle for the sake of any old agreement.
When he first set out his proposals, Mr Patten made it clear he wanted Legco to take responsibility for voting the electoral arrangements into law, amending or rejecting them.
At that time, Mr Patten still believed accommodation could be reached with China. Legco would only have to agree to a package which it believed both Hong Kong and China would find tolerable. Yesterday's speech appeared to prepare the ground for what Mr Patten, as a politician, may regard as an honourable retreat.
