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CONFIDENTIAL
BRIEF NO 3
MR ROYLE'S VISIT TO HONG KONG:
11-15 NOVEMBER 1972
CHINESE LANGUAGE ISSUE
The Hong Kong Government have gone a long way towards
implementation of the recommendations of Sir Kenneth Ping-fan Fung's
Committee, which reported in 1971.
The first two reports of the Chinese Language Committee dealt
with the use of Chinese at meetings of the Legislative Council,
the Urban Council and Government Boards and Committees and the use
of Chinese in oral and written communications between Government and
the public. Simultaneous interpretation facilities are now available in the Urban Council and were also introduced into the Legislative
Council at the opening of the new session on 18 October.
Mr Christopher Wong was appointed Commissioner for Chinese Language in March 1972 and is responsible for coordinating, advising and
instructing departments on the implementation of the Government's
Chinese language policy. There has been an increased number of
bilingual official publication; and as soon as staff and other
resources are available, it is intended to pursue the issue of
sending letters to the public in Chinese.
In its Third Report, the Chinese Language Committee considered the extent to which Chinese can have equal status with English in court proceedings and as a language of the law. With one exception, the Hong Kong Government have accepted the recommendations of this report and, subject to slight modifications, are gradually putting
/them
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CONFIDENTIAL