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opposition to the development of such institutions, which could affect their claim to sovereignty and lead to growth of KMT
influence in the Colony is well understood by the local population.
17.
Other more limited solutions to the problem of introducing
elective institutions have been suggested:
(a)
(b)
(c)
the election of a few unofficial members to the
Legislative Council;
appointment of a specified number of those elected to the Urban Council (a municipal body with limited powers partly elected on a very limited franchise);
extension of the Urban Council's field of responsibility.
There are, however, powerful objections to these suggestions: (a) is likely to create the same difficulties with Peking as any move towards more widespread elective processes; (b) does not take account of the generally unrepresentative character of those elected to the Urban Council; and (c) will lead to undesirable fragmentation of power within so small a community.
He
18. In these circumstances, the machinery of Government is developing on unique lines. The present Governor's intention is to produce a more local and less alien government, encouraging and organising public participation at all levels designed to create cohesion and a sense of local identity based upon civic pride. has increased the number of Advisory Boards which provide an opportunity for those outside government to make their views known on a wide variety of topics, and has sought to widen representation on them. He also initiated the system of Mutual Aid Committees (a form of residents' associations at their strongest in urban resettlement estates), initially designed to combat crime but subsequently adapted as a link between the population at large and Government over a wide field of issues. Plans for further institutional development follow four principal lines of approach:
(a) increasing contacts between the local institutions
(including the Mutual Aid Committees), and local representatives of the central Government (such as District Officers and their liaison staff);
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