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might therefore create internal security problems in Hong Kong to add to any pressure from this country about the effectiveness of screening for genuine refugees. The Governor is well aware of the fine balance of advantage and is watching it closely. 10. The third area in which the Governor agrees that we would be wise to move cautiously is constitutional development. There was a presentational element in his Despatch proposing a Member System, since it has warded off more radical proposals. The idea of unofficial Members has not been widely discussed with the Governor's advisers in Hong Kong. I am virtually certain they would advise that the new division of work between official Secretaries had not yet had time to settle down, and that time was needed before yet another layer of responsibility is imposed on top of them.
11.
I asked the Governor whether an additional argument against applying the Member System now was that it was about the last constitutional development that could be introduced which was not unequivocally referable to independence. He thought not, and that at some later stage it might well be possible to contemplate direct elections. Nevertheless he regarded his present proposals as designed to meet a need in London as much as in Hong Kong. He acknowledged that if the nomination of rich Chinese to positions of power in Hong Kong did not placate the critics of the Hong Kong Government in the UK, then the idea might not be worth pursuing. Much depends on the personalities concerned and he will be considering this further.
12.
Superimposed on these substantial worries is the tiresome press story, started by Mr Norman Barrymaine, that the Governor was seeking to leave Hong Kong at the end of the year for another job in the Diplomatic Service. The critics' implication was that this was because he had seen his policies fail.
13.
The personal pressures of all this are quite strong, and I am sure it is important that the Governor should see that he has
the support of HMG and of his more sensible officials. The most immediate problem is the Financial Secretary. I think the question of his future is now urgent, both because of the current situation in the Colony and because he should be trained outside Hong Kong
/as a possible
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