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2.
well to require us to be very sure indeed that any change would represent a genuine and above all viable improvement before making any move.
4.
I myself am in two minds about the merits of change and it is for this reason I asked for a review. In my first year here I still believed it would be possible, without constitutional change, to hold the loyalty and attention of the population and build up a sense of local identity based on civic pride. I thought this could be done by the implementation of extensive programmes of social reform, by greater responsiveness on the part of Government, and by organising extensive grass-roots participation in neighbourhood affairs on the model of Singapore. The moves that have been made in these directions have had their impact and improved the relationship of government and governed, and I think that we could continue quite well on this basis. Never- theless I now believe that Hong Kong would have a better chance of retaining its cohesion and sense of identity in the difficult period that will start with the '80s if it had a more obviously local and less obviously alien government.
5.
The most natural way of achieving this would be by proceeding by stages to elected and, within defined limits, responsible government. Such a form of government, if it could once be successfully established, and we could be satisfied that it was viable and commanded general confidence, would have obvious merit. But experience elsewhere suggests that once embarked on such a course it would probably develop fast and be hard to stop, and we know that the special circumstances of Hong Kong would make it very risky indeed. The difficulties are so obvious I will not set them out at length here, but certainly I imagine we would not contemplate such a course unless assured that it would be acceptable to and would not be abused by the CPG,
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and would not upset the confidence of either the population or business in the Colony's future. These would be hard conditions to meet.
6.
Conventional wisdom has been that the way to normal elected responsible government is blocked
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