LORD GORONWY-ROBERTS'S MEETING WITH MR JAMES JOHNSON MP ON 11 FEBRUARY 1976
II.
SPEAKING NOTES ON CRITICISMS MADE BY THE FABIAN PAMPHLET
Political Institutions
1.
The usual pattern of constitutional development followed in most other dependent territories is ruled out in the case of Hong Kong. The Chinese claim sovereignty over the territory and would be strongly opposed to any constitutional developments which implied a separate status for Hong Kong.
2.
In the absence of popularly elected institutions, the Governor is attempting to build what may amount to a unique system of government by consensus based on wide public participation at all levels e.g.
(a) by improving government consultation with local
community groups, many of which (the Mutual Aid
Committees) have been fostered by the Government itself; (b) by aiming to widen the social background from which
Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council are
selected; and
(c) by localising as far as is possible the Civil Service
in Hong Kong.
The Absence of Effective Unions
3.
Trade unions in the Colony are at present weak, fragmented and generally dominated either by pro-Peking or pro-KMT factions.
4.
In consultation with the Hong Kong Government and the TUC here, we are proposing to mount a professional study of Hong Kong's industrial relations generally to try to determine how the trade union movement might be developed in Hong Kong and whether there is scope for the growth of collective bargaining.
5.
The Secretary of State's Overseas Labour Adviser is also considering, with the Labour Commissioner in Hong Kong, whether
Hong Kong's trade union legislation can be simplified and updated.
/Conditions