CONFIDENTIAL
43
Reference........
M..
D. $134
(40)
(3)
NOTE FOR FILE
HONG KONG: LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
1. Mr O'Keeffe asked Mr Janvrin and I to consider whether we should react to Hong Kong telegram no 1003. Mr O'Keeffe's initial thought was to consider sending a reply suggesting that the Governor might hold an off-the-record briefing either for UMELCO and/or the press in order to give them a little more background about his intentions. (Paragraph 3 of Hong Kong telegram No 992). The idea of a briefing would have been to pre-empt any unnecessarily speculative reaction in Hong Kong.
2.
We concluded that it would have been impossible to convey this or any other idea to the Governor before he was due to make his statement to the Legislative Council (since reported 2) in Hong Kong telegrams No 1007 and 1008) and before any local
reactions began to come in. We also noted that the Governor was within his rights to make up his own mind as he thought best, and, in the event of any misleading reactions, the one best placed to take any necessary corrective action. We also felt that the reference to a possible change in the size and composition of the Legislative Council contained in the Governor's statement was so indirect that it was unlikely to produce any significant reactions. For these reasons, therefore, we decided to let the matter rest. Nevertheless, so far as this end is concerned, we continued to adhere to the view expressed in FCO telegram No 767. I have explained our con- clusions to Mr O'Keeffe.
3. It will be interesting to see whether the Governor's state- ment does attract any adverse comment here on the grounds that it does not strike a sufficiently forward looking note as regards the evolution of the Legislative Council.
D. F. deillor
10 October 1975
CODE 18-77
CONFIDENTIAL
D F MILTON
Hong Kong and Indian Ocean
Department