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RECORD OF A MEETING BETWEEN LORD GORONWY-ROBERTS AND MEMBERS OF THE URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL OF HONG KONG HELD AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE ON
WEDNESDAY 23 AFRIL AT 5.15 F.M.
Present
Lord Goronwy-Roberts
Mr P L O'Keeffe
Mr AC Galsworthy
RECEIVED REGISTRY No.52 - DAY 1975
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Mrs E Elliott 3/548/4
Mr P Chan
Miss C Yeung
Mr J Mackenzie
Mr J Tinson
1. Lord Goronwy-Roberts welcomed the delegation to London and expressed the hope that they had found their visit to the GLC instructive and useful. He asked whether there were any points that the Councillors wished to make to him.
ELECTED REPRESENTATION
2. Mrs Elliott said that she wished to present a letter signed by 70 members of the Movement for Representation in Government, an organisation formed after Lord Goronwy-Roberts's visit to Hong Kong to further the aim of introducing a form of represent- ative democracy in the Colony. She stressed that the movement was not seeking independence for Hong Kong and added that many people in Hong Kong had been encouraged by Lord Goronwy-Roberts's statement to the Hong Kong press that he favoured more elected representation.
3. Lord Goronwy-Roberts replied that he had said no such thing.
He had tried to make it clear that while it was normal for the
British Government to foster the growth of full self-government in colonial territories, all cases were necessarily considered on their merits. In Hong Kong very special circumstances prevailed, notably the attitude of the CPR and the wide variety of political allegiances in the Colony. He wished once again to make it clear that, while he in general favoured the idea of elected governments in British colonies, HMG would give it
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