06 MAY 1992
05 May 92
Dr Margaret Leicester,
Dept. of Public Health Medicine, District Headquarters,
Mid Surrey Health Authority, West Park Hospital
Horton Lane,
EPSOM
Surrey KT19 8PB
Tel 0372 727 811 Ext 4411
Mr. Christopher Patten
c/o Conservative and Unionist Central Office
32, Smith Square
London SW1
Mass Williams
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Dear Mr. Patten,
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As a member of the Hong Kong Council of Women, I would like to congratulate you on your new appointment as Governor of Hong Kong. I expect you have received scores of
letters and words of advice since the announcement was made, but I wonder how many have
been from women or from representatives of the disadvantaged in the territory? Given my
recent experiences in contact with these groups in Hong Kong, I wish to raise a few points for your attention.
1. Both the UK and China are signatories to the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. However, despite repeated efforts on the part of HKCW
and other women's groups in the territory, the UK refuses to extend its application to Hong
Kong. Not only does this expose women to exploitation in various ways, less pay for equal
work, discriminatory advertisements for jobs etc., it raises the question whether the UK is
serious in its intention to do whatever is possible to ensure a safe future for Hong Kong.
2. The death penalty is still a legitimate punishment in Hong Kong. It is argued that is has
rarely been applied, since it was abolished in the UK, but with the Chinese willingness to
use capital punishment, its continued presence on the statute book now poses a serious threat to human rights in the territory.
3. Britain claims that the Joint Declaration and Basic Law agreements with the Chinese
government prevents further democratic development in Hong Kong. As far as the number of directly elected seats in the Legislative Council goes, this may be true. However, there are other ways in which democratic processes can be developed. For instance, a Freedom of