(885363) Dd. 896639 1,000м 8/71 St.S.
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Registry
No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
DRAFT
LETTER
To:-
Confidential. Restricted. Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
PAL Vine Esq OBE JP 304 Chartered Bank Building HONG KONG
Type 1 +
From
Telephone No. & Ext.
Department
You wrote to Mr Royle when he was in Hong Kong
last month about the composition of the Legislative
Council.
As you know, John Browne has agreed to serve
for a further period. However, I have been asked to
tell you that the proposal not to continue with the
practice of calling for nominations from Justices
of the Peace and the General Chamber of Commerce
has the support of the Secretary of State.
While
the Secretary of State realises the fine
contribution that members in these seats have made
over the years, the practice was not in any way
embodied in the constitution of Hong Kong.
·
Land for no
Since
the practice has now become somewhat anachronistic
the Secretary of State has approved the proposal to
discontinue it.
Since all the Unofficial Members of both
Executive and Legislative Councils as at present
constituted are Justices of the Peace there does not
seem to be any possibility of JP views being under
represented.