post-war desire for representative and responsible
government in other colonial territories,there is no
general demand for constitutional change in Hong Kong.
e Chinese, who constitute 98% of the population, are
not really interested in constitutional reform; their
desire is to live and work under a well-established
system of law and order and to pursue their own private
affairs with a minimum of interference by government.
There is a school of thought (e.g. in the Hong Kong
Reform Club and the United Nations Association for
Hong Kong) which considers that the development of
representative and responsible government in Hong Kong
is possible. We know of no justification for this
opinion. On the contrary, there have been frequent
and plain indications that the C.P.G. expects the status
quo in Hong Kong to be maintained, and by this they mean
that they would not accept any advancement of the Colony along
the normal progression towards self-government and
independence, and indeed Mrs. Hart pointed out in the
House of Commons on 21st March 1967 that "Because of
Hong Kong's special circumstances, it is not possible to
think of self-government in the Colony, or to consider
an elected legislative Council
the situation in
Hong Kong is unlike that anywhere else in the world.
Nevertheless, the government of Hong Kong are considering
an extension of the system by which people can be
elected to deal with local authority matters."
In view of the obvious limitations on constitutional
development in the sphere of central government, the
Hong Kong Government is now examining the possibility of
using the machinery of local government as a medium
through which the people of the Colony may be given a
greater opportunity of associating themselves with the
conduct of their affairs. In February 1967 there was
/published
{