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LUCKC 18/211 Flagk Flag G
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Please see the attached draft submission. 27 Lü
For the following reasons I have been in some doubt as to the form that the submission should take.
3. The Heung Yee Kuk have raised on earlier occasions, with the previous administration, the question of the representation of the New Territories on the Executive and Legislative Councils. A good- will delegation from the Heung Yee Kuk visited this country in February, 1968, and made representations to Ministers on a number of matters including this particular issue. The delegation saw the then
Secretary of State and the then Minister of State and included their representations in memoranda which they presented to those Ministers. Both Ministers informed the delegation that their representations would be considered and that replies would be sent to them through the Governor in due course.
4. In March, 1968, we sent the Governor a saving despatch with our comments on the issues raised by the delegation with our suggestions for the framing of a reply on the points raised. At the same time we asked the Governor for his recommendations as to the form of reply to be sent.
5. Hong Kong took nearly two years to reply to the above saving despatch and meanwhile, in March, 1969, the Chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk addressed a memorandum to Mr. Royle, in his then capacity as a Member of Parliament, raising much the same issues as before. Mr. Royle handed the memorandum to the then Secretary of State in the same month and we passed it on to the Governor in April, 1969, asking for his recommendations as to the form of reply to be sent to it.
6. Eventually, after a number of reminders, the Governor sent us, in January, 1970, his recommendations as to the replies to be sent to both memoranda. At the end of January, 1970, we sent the Governor drafts of replies to the two memoranda which we asked him to send to the Heung Yee Kuk. The replies were eventually sent to the Heung Yee Kuk by the Hong Kong Government on 13 March, 1970.
7. Since the above events all relate to the previous administration, I am in doubt as to how much of this history should be mentioned in the attached submission. Mr. Royle will doubtless recall the memorandum that he handed to the Secretary of State in March, 1969, but he will no doubt equally appreciate that a different administration was in power at the time. I have therefore kept to a minimum (see para. 5 of the submission) references to these earlier representations. However, you may consider that no reference should be made to them at all.
ANT
(A.W. Gaminara) 11 December,
1970
Registry
No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top-Secret:
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted. Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
..In Confidence
DRAFT
submission
Type 1 +
From
To:-
Mr. Wilford
Mr. Laird
Telephone No. & Ext.
Department
Flag A
Flag B
Problem
Representations by the Heung Yee Kuk The Rural Consultative Council for the New Territories Hong Kong)
When the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
was in Hong Kong in October, the Heung Yee Kuk handed
him a letter concerning the representation of the
New Territories on the Colony's Executive and
Legislative Councils. They had addressed a similar letter to the Hong Kong Government shortly before
Mr. Royle's visit to the Colony. The Governor has
now sent us a translation (together with the original) of the letter addressed to Mr. Royle and
the draft of a proposed reply to both letters.
Recommendation
24
I recommend that the Governor be authorised to
reply to the Heung Yee Kuk in terms of the attached
draft letter. Apart from certain minn
Background
3.
the dr.
drags in the same proposed by the Grunn. джип,
as that
The Heung Yee Kuk (the Rural Consultative
Council of the New Territories) is a statutory
elected and wholly advisory body whose functions
include the promotion of cooperation and understanding
among the peoples of the New Territories and between
the Hong Kong Government and the peoples of the
New Territories.
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It also advises the Government on social and economic
developments in the interests of the welfare and
the people of
prosperity of the area.
4.
The Heung Yee Kuk's letter to the Parliamentary
Under-Secretary asks:
5.
(1) that certain (unspecified)Government
officials in the New Territories
Administration should be appointed
as ex-officio members of the
Executive Council; and
(2) that some members of the Heung Yee
Kuk itself should be appointed as
unofficial members of both the
Executive and Legislative Councils.
This is not the first time that the question
of New Territories representation on the central
councils of Government has been raised by the
Heung Yee Kuk. They have raised it on two previous
occasions during the last two years (in February
1968 and in January 1969) and the reply now proposed
by the Governor reiterates the replies sent on those
occasions.
6.
To accede to the Heung Yee Kuk's requests would
in fact involve a complete review of the membership
of both Councils, with all the dangers and
difficulties that would attend such an exercise.
invy
In particular, the appointment of members of the
Heung Yee Kuk (which is an elected body) as
unofficial members of the Legislative Council would
almost cervoni
undoubtedly lead to demands from the Urban Council
for similar treatment to be accorded to that body.
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