SECRET AND PERSONAL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1
Telephone 01-
HE Sir Murray MacLehose KCMG MBE
HONG KONG
Your reference
Our reference
Date
6 November 1974
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Dear Murray,
CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN HONG KONG
1.
We have exchanged no correspondence on this subject since Duncan Watson's letter to you of 26 June, though we did discuss the matter briefly during my subsequent visit. But with the current spate of interest in Hong Kong developments, centring around the Labour Party International Committee meeting next week, and then the Overseas Labour Consultative Committee, not to mention Sillars's current parliamentary campaign, we should maybe give the constitutional question another airing.
2.
We were interested to see in the Daily Information Bulletin for 30 October the account of Dr Chung's speech about the need for wider public and worker participation in LegCo. While you and we are agreed on the dangers of departing too far from the Cabinet concept of LegCo, the charge of elitism becomes more difficult to refute to Ministers when it is voiced from inside LegCo itself; and of course, as we also agreed, the introduction of the member system would not, unless carefully handled, dispose of this charge.
Perhaps you could let us know your present thoughts?
3.
cc (blind)
Sir D Watson
Mr Male
Yours ever,
Andrew
A C Stuart
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Dept.
BU I mont
D
बार
D30/12
OPOR EM
A ATTY
88
7/11
BV 2 weeks
TODOTT
13/12