CONFIDENTIAL
Legislative Elections in Hong Kong
5.
Elections to the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo)
were held on 12 and 15 September. On 12 September 21
functional constituency members were elected (representing
the main professional and occupational sectors in Hong Kong)
and on 15 September, for the first time, 18 members were
directly elected by general franchise from 9 two-member
The remainder of the 60 LegCo seats are
filled by 18 members appointed by the Governor and 3
ex-officio members who are senior civil servants.
constituencies.
6. The United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) led by the lawyer Mr Martin Lee, who advocate more radical policies
such as a faster pace of democratisation and of whom Peking is highly suspicious, did very well in the direct elections,
winning 12 seats and 45% of the vote. (The turn-out rate of
39% was lower than expected.) The UDHK and other 'Liberal'
allies now hold 22 of the 39 elected seats.
Nationality
7. After Tiananmen it was necessary to help restore confidence by encouraging key people to remain in the territory. Emigration had already reached worrying levels
(currently about 60,000 a year). However, the Government could not give right of abode in the UK to all Hong Kong people. Instead it introduced the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Bill, which received Royal Assent in July 1990. This will provide British citizenship to 50,000 key Hong Kong people (plus their spouses and children under 18) so that they do not need to leave Hong Kong to obtain the security of a foreign right of abode. The Order in Council setting out the details of the Selection Scheme was approved by Parliament in November 1990. The first tranche of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Selection Scheme (about
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CONFIDENTIAL