Mr Quantrill
SECKLT
HKCK.006/1
118
float
Накован RECEIVED IN
23 MAY 1978
DESK OFFICER
Y
NO. 51
This Copy for:
Information o.ly/Action on
10.
INDEX
V.. IT 40 letC HONG
M
CNG KONG T MISCELLANEOUS POINTS
Greater Democracy
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PA
1. I learnt from David Wilson that the Governor has given instructions to senior officers in the Hong Kong Government to look for candidates from outside the normal establishment for some of the second tier (overnment Committees. The objective is to bring on candidates who could eventually take their place on Legco. While this is a worthwhile scheme, and I am convinced that it is being done with reasonable enthusiasm, it will obviously take some years to show any striking results.
2.
A number of people to whom i spole were extremely scornful of the value of UUCo. Only one, however, Peter[ Johnson, came up with any concrete suggestion as to ways in which Erbco could e
Fore effective. le proposed that votin, should be by constituency which would hopefully lead to a greater recling of Community s irit and therefore a greater degree of public interest and involvement.
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Urganisation (fovern ent
3. When tul! ing to mughi kiuley I tried, without much success, to make clear in my own mind the formal structure of the Government Lachinery. une point did become clear, however, and that is that there are those in the liong Kong Covernment who would prefer that when we write on matters of policy, if the letter is addressed to the Lecretariat branch, a copy should be sent to the relevant department or vice-versa.
The budget
4.
Following so soon on the heels of lichael Stewart, I made no raal effort to ciscuss financial or economic affairs. However, during the conversation with Hugh Ardley he put across very strongly the point that, when the budget is being drawn up, Finance Branch follow the individual budgets laid down by departments for those new areas of expenditure which have already been accepted as Government policy. It is only on policies which may be desirable but have not been either considered essential or yet formally taken into the Government programme that the Financial Secretary exercises any real, control.
Future of Hong Kong
5. I was very struck by how many people, both in and out of Government, were eager to discuss this question. No-one pretended to come up with any real solution as what will happen after 1997 but there was an obvious awareness that something will have to be arranged within the next 5 years, the
he deadline was given me by a number of people. In their