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Sir A. Gels and
Mr. J. C. Moreton
Problem
M. Barkin вали
Apprende by Ford Shepher.
AMENDMENT OF HONG KONG ROYAL INSTRUCTIONS
8
Я вам соданий
I
thie Ritter Goloworking
and Im Morto
Badan
Should the Hong Kong Royal Instructions be amended, as recommended by the Governor in his despatch No. 1173 of 11 September:
(a) To change the title of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs
to "Secretary for Home Affairs";
(b)
흐흐
(c)
To raise from five to ten the number of members required
to constitute a quorum of the Legislative Council;
To abolish the requirement for a motion in the Legislative Council to have a seconder.
Recommendation
2.
It is recommended that all three amendments should be made. (If the recommendations are approved legal advisers will draft the necessary Additional Instructions for submission to the Privy Council).
Argument
a) Proposal to change the title of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs
to "Secretary for Home Affairs
3. The title of "Secretary for Chinese Affairs", although appropriate at a time when special measures were required to protect the interests of the Chinese population of the Colony, has become increasingly anachronistic, particularly since 98% of Hong Kong's population of nearly four million are Chinese by birth or origin. To-day the Secretary for Chinese Affairs has three roles: as the Governor's principal official adviser on Chinese values and problems within Hong Kong; as a direct channel of communication between the Governor and the people of Hong Kong; and as the executive authority for a number of special statutory or administrative responsibilities.
4. Originally the Governor proposed that the title should be changed to that of "Home Secretary", which was the title put forward by the Chinese unofficial members of his Executive Council after a number of other possibilities had been considered and discarded. However, during the Governor's recent discussions with officials in the Department it was pointed out that a title identical with that popularly accorded to one of Her Majesty's Ministers in the United Kingdom might give rise to misunderstanding and meet with difficulties here. Accordingly the alternative title of "Secretary for Home Affairs" was suggested and it has since been confirmed (Hong Kong telegram No. 2151) that this title would be acceptable to the Chinese unofficial members of the Executive Council.
/5.