IN CONFIDENCE
appointed and not elected, their authority derives from their professional expertise, business capacity, knowledge
གྲྭ
bf English and ability to command the respect of some section of the public. In practice this has in the past restricted candidates to those who have..come to notice through the time and effort they have devoted to public and charitable work. This in turn has meant that they have generally been rich members of the financial or commercial establishment and the composition of the Legislative Council has, at a result, been the source of some criticism. New appointments to the Council, designed to ensure that the views of all sections of the community in Hong Kong are better represented, were made at the end of August last year. The new members include a trade unionist and three others closely associated with the working population of Hong Kong and their problems.
23. The Governor is aware of the limitations of the Legislative Council as a means of keeping in touch with public opinion and has devised a number of methods to overcome this weakness. Besides the Urban Council, a semi-elected body responsible mainly for certain public health matters and the provision of parks and amenities, à large number of unofficial advisory committees and local community organisations have been developed to provide a bridge between the Government and the public. City District Officers officers stationed in various parts of Hong Kong channel of communication.
24.
government
provide a further
The possibility of introducing any elected form of government is ruled out by the Chinese Government's opposition to any move which could be construed as setting Hong Kong on the road to internal self-government and independence: and by conflicting political allegiances within the Chinese population of Hong Kong. The Chinese Government is known to be highly sensitive to the risk that any form of election to LegCo might lead to the success of Kuomintang (KMT) candidates. The Governor considers that the way forward is to adjust further the social composition of LegCo, without altering its essential (ie non-elective) character and to increase public participation at all levels of government.
IN CONFIDENCE
/Defence