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VI IT 10 HONG KONG: IECELLANEOUS POINTS
Greater Democracy
1.
Float
Hick 100/2.
RECAVER
23 MAY 1978
DPK OF
INDEX
No
38
RY
Action Taken
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 Government Committees. he objective is to bring on candidates who could eventually take their place on Leglo. While this is a worthwhile scheme, and i an 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 spoke were extremely scornful of the value of UruCo. Only one, however, Feter[ Johnson, came up with any concrete suggestion as to ways in which UrbCo could be de PG
reefective. lie proposed that voting should be by co..stituency which would hopefully lead to & greater feeling of community s irit and therefore a greater degree of public interest and involvement.
Umanisation of Cover unt
3.
"
When talling to magh widley I trica, without much success, to make clear in my own mind the formal structure of the coverment Lachim ry one point did become clear, however, ani that is that there are those in the Hong Kong Covernment who would prefer that when we write on matters of policy, if the letter is addressed to the Secretariat 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 real effort to discuss 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 Lecretary exercises any real, control.
Future of liong Kong
5. I was very struck by how many people, both in and out of Covernment, 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 deadline was given me by a number of people. In their