Chris Patten writes in the IHT:

When I left Hong Kong 10 years ago, we were in the throes of introducing democracy in the territory. We were late in doing so. But what we set out to do was to give the citizens of Hong Kong what they had been promised in the agreement on the city's handover to China, known as the Joint Declaration. It was also a development that was specifically allowed for in the Basic Law, Beijing's constitution for Hong Kong.

To read more:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/21/opinion/edpatten.php

Chris Patten writes in the IHT:

When I left Hong Kong 10 years ago, we were in the throes of introducing democracy in the territory. We were late in doing so. But what we set out to do was to give the citizens of Hong Kong what they had been promised in the agreement on the city's handover to China, known as the Joint Declaration. It was also a development that was specifically allowed for in the Basic Law, Beijing's constitution for Hong Kong.

To read more:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/21/opinion/edpatten.php