The Rt. Hon. Dr. David "wen,
「 ;
URBAN
COUNCIL
市政局
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
Whitehall,
London,
United Kingdom.
Dear Dr. Owen,
FUN AND COMMON.EALTH &
な
2 1 DEC1978
ON
*V/Pamege ལྟར U
AFFIDE
11th. December, 1978.
180
Have Way
Gdeal Dept.
Hong Kong Section
-this presumably crossed file deal with
withs Owen's reply: do we need to take any frother
action?
12221/12
الله
I am authorised by the other two Urban Councillors of this group, Dr. Denny Huang and Mr. Tsin Sai-nin, to send this reminder on behalf of all three of us.
Tall12
Kindly refer to our letter of 16th. October, 1978, concerning proposed constitutional changes in Hong Kong. We have not yet received a reply.
This matter was recently discussed in the House of Lords, where Lord Goronwy-Roberts is reported by the Hong Kong press (STANDARD 28/11/78) to have "made the stock British Government reply, that there is no objection in principle and at the right time" to having a more represent- ative government in Hong Kong: these words might equally have been attributed to Mr. Ian Smith in Rhodesia.
Recently there has been much unrest in the Hong Kong civil service, among New Territories residents whose way of life is being disrupted, in educational circles where the continued neglect of the Chinese language is deplored, among young people who feel frustrated, and in many other sectors of the population with a grievance
all due to the same cause, the
lack of any voice in their own affairs.
may be.
We should appreciate some indication of when "the right time" Is the British Government waiting for more disturbances like those of 1966 and 1967? Would that not be too late and, in fact, the wrong time?
Yours faithfully,
6. Muiste
E. Elliott
Has oul8.
RECEIVED PRATO NO. $1
14
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