From The Minister of State

Richard Luce MP

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18 December 1984

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- 9 JAN 1985

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I said in my concluding speech to the debate on the Hong Kong agreement on 5 December that I would write to Members if I failed to deal with points raised by them.

On reading the record of the debate I note that I failed to pick up your point that the functional constituencies proposed in the White Paper on the Further Development of Representative Government in Hong Kong might reinforce existing or potential divisions in society.

I do not think this is likely. Although the concept of functional constituencies is a new one, the organisations which will make up the constituencies are well established in Hong Kong - for example the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in the commercial constituency and the Hong Kong Council of Social Services in the social services constituency. The existence of such organisations do not cause divisions in society, and I do not believe that their constitution into functional constituencies will either.

رہا

Dennis Canavan Esq MP

House of Commons

London

SW1A OAA

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