English Translation of Hong Kong Link Circular in Chinese
Hong Kong Link
22 Coleman Fields London N1 7AF UK
Dear Friends
After the release last May of the "Green paper on the 1987 Review of Developments in Representative Government", the public made numerous submissions of their opinion on the Green paper to the "Survey Office". The recent publication of the Survey Office report has aroused public resentment as they are not satisfied with the method used to handle and analyse public opinion collected in the survey, they suspect that the Government has distorted public opinion and misled the public. Quite a few members of the Lego, Urbco, District Boards and professional bodies have declared and criticized that the Government has manipulated public opinion. The greatest criticism is that the two hundred and thirty thousand signitures supporting direct elections in 1988 were being dealt with separately, misleading people to think that a majority of the public did not want direct elections in 1988. Moreover, it can be found that there are faults in the questionaire designed by the Company commissioned by the Survey Office and this has led the public to doubt its reliability.
The white paper on the Review of Developments in Representative Government, which will be published early next year, is closely related to the development of democracy in future Hong Kong. Most people think that whether the Government will introduce direct elections to the legislature at the earlier possible stage will affect the commitments and trustworthiness of the Hong Kong Government's administration during the transitional period and is the key to the future development of democracy in Hong Kong.
A group of legco members and democrats decided to form a delegation to Peking and London to express their views on the Survey report to the two Governments. Members of the delegation to London including Lego members Martin Lee, Conrad Lam, Jackie Chan, the Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Promotion of Democratic Government Lik Kiu Ding and representatives of local bodies will meet the London Foreign & Commonwealth Office ministers on 7 December to express their resentment on the Government's unfair treatment of public opinion on the Green paper. Moreover, the delegation will approach members of the British Parliament and communication media to express the will of the public in Hong Kong. At the same time, the delegation will stay in London for 4 days and will be present at an open forum held on 9 December (Wednesday) at 7.30 pm to explain the purpose of their trip to London and the latest political development in Hong Kong. The Chairman of the delegation Martin Lee is also being invited to give a talk on 8 December (Tuesday) at 12.30 pm at the School of Oriental & African Studies of the London University. We warmly invite you to participate and discuss the development of demoratic Government in Hong Kong.
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