that the people of Hong Kong are not
interested in such
"un-
Chinese" practices as elections and, in any event, do not wish to
have them introduced at an early date. They say that, in view of
such public opinion, it is not necesary for Britain to keep her
promise that representative government would be rapidly developed
so that an experienced and representative government would be in
place by 1997.
These people cite as their authority the recently
released Report of the Survey Office, set up by the Hong Kong
Government to assess public opinion on political reforms. For
this reason, it is necessary to look at the Report of the Survey
Office, and at the 1987 Green Paper on representative government.
The 1987 Green Paper bore almost no similarity to that
reaffirmation of
of 1984. Conspicuously missing was any
Britain's 1984 commitment to "develop progressively a system of
government the authority for which is firmly rooted in Hong Kong,
which is able to represent authoritatively the views of the
people of Hong Kong, and which is more directly accountable to
the people of Hong Kong."
Traditionally, the Green Paper is a document presenting
a government proposal, on which the public is invited to comment.
This Green Paper, however, was unique in that it did not advocate
any form of political reform. The government explained this lack
of action by declaring that it did not want to "lead public
opinion."
In its Annual Report on Hong Kong to Parliament for the
1985-86 year, the British government said of the 1987 review:
"The main issues on which the views of the public will be sought
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