香港總督府
SECRET
HONG KONG Despatch 1 March 1988
GOVERNMENT HOUSE
HONG KONG
1.
The Development of Representative Government
in Hong Kong: The Road Travelled
Summary
Three White Papers on constitutional reform in the past seven years have brought Hong Kong from an old-style colonial government to a three tier system which from 1991 will include direct elections at all levels (paragraph 1-3).
2.
Earlier initiatives for reform, in 1946 and 1966, failed because of lack of public interest and external threats to Hong Kong's existence. Sir Alexander Grantham, Governor from 1947 to 1957, summarised the problems of constitutional development in an assessment that has aged well (paragraphs 4-9).
3.
Demographic and social change led to developments in district administration in the 1970s. District Boards set up in 1982 with some directly elected members (paragraphs 10-12).
4.
Sino-British negotiations about Hong Kong's future introduced new urgency and purpose. Indigenous political regime had to be strengthened against time of British withdrawal. Green Paper of 1984 proposed indirect elections to the Legislative Council (LegCo), and floated possibility of indirectly elected Executive Councillors and Governor. Direct elections to Legco and a ministerial system also raised for discussion, but not pressed by government, because of dangers of instability. and communist infiltration. But direct elections attracted the most public interest (paragraphs 13-21).
5.
White Paper of November 1984 introduced indirectly elected membership (40%) to LegCo, and promised further review of political reform, including direct elections, in 1987. Other far-reaching Green Paper ideas were shelved, partly because of little public interest and partly because of the negotiations with the Chinese over the future (paragraphs 22-24).
6.
Chinese paid little attention to the 1984 Green and White Papers. In 1985, however, clear they were worried that reform was going too far too fast. Growing
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