Hong Kong Link
PRESS
RELEASE
Embargoed until
01.00 Hours
TUESDAY September 24
NEW GROUP SUPPORTS CALL FOR DIRECT ELECTIONS IN HONG KONG -
Two days before indirect elections take place for the first time to Hong Kong's Legislative Council, HONG KONG LINK publishes a report calling on Britain to introduce direct elections to the Legislative Council and criticising the citizenship laws affecting Hong Kong's people. "The coming decade is the most important in Hong Kong's entire history," says the report.
HONG KONG LINK argues that reforms before 1997 are essential if Hong Kong is to become an autonomous region under Chinese sovereignty, as promised in the Anglo-Chinese Agreement. Asserting that "an accountable and democratically elected government is the most appropriate system for Hong Kong, the document criticises the Hong Kong government for "continuing to take upon itself all responsibility for deciding the pace of change". It concludes that "while it is true that only Hong Kong's people can make a success of the Anglo-Chinese Agreement and their own future, they cannot do so unless they are given the fullest and most creative support by both Britain and China during and after the transition period".
The document includes sections on political reform, the Anglo-Chinese Agreement, citizenship and British nationality law, and the expectations of the people of the territory.
HONG KONG LINK is a London-based group, with members from both Britain and Hong Kong, which was set up in 1985 to monitor Britain's implementation of the Anglo-Chinese Agreement. It is supported by the British Council of Churches, the Catholic Institute for International Relations and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, among others.
HONG KONG
-
TOWARDS THE FUTURE BRITISH RESPONSIBILITIES
is available from
22 Coleman Fields, London N1 7AF
Price: 50 pence
For further information, contact:
LO Chi Kin
(01) 833 1749
Anne Owers at JCWI
(01) 251 8708
Gordon Shaw at the BCC
(01) 730 9611
Robert Archer at CIIR
(01) 354 0883
HAM Oull
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
26 SEP 1985
WESK OFFICER
INDLX
RECISTRY
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Action Telen
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