11
government. Progress in education, the growth of a young and highly professional middle class, and the effects of ever-increasing contacts with the developed world, were bound to strengthen the call for a more
direct say.
That call has been reinforced by the prospect of 1997, which brings with it a wish on the part of Hong Kong people to play a more direct role in govemment.
33.
Even when the negotiations were in progress, the Hong Kong
Government was not idle on this front. We announced last spring that
in this year's elections the number of elected members of District
Boards would be doubled, and that a new Regional Council would be
established to provide for the needs of those areas not now covered by
the Urban Council. With the rapid growth in population in the New
Territories over 40 percent of our population will live there in the
the need for such a Council had become pressing. After
Community-wide cosultation through the medium of a Green Paper, we also
announced that nearly half of the membership of the Legislative Council
will be chosen through a process of indirect election later this year.
1990€
34.
-
-
But with the need to develop more representative government
goes the need not to prejudice the stability and community consensus
which have been essential to Hong Kong's success. This is widely recognised in Hong Kong, not least by the Government. We have chosen
to build on existing well-tried structures, rather than take over-ambitious
leaps in the dark. We have tried to choose methods which will preserve
the political consensus and reduce the risk of sharply adversarial
politics. Critics of our pace of change ignore the fact that Hong Kong will accomplish in years changes which it took decades to achieve in
the United Kingdom.
35.
We are seeking to create a system tailored to Hong Kong's own
special needs and circumstances. Later this year we shall have 24 members indirectly elected to a Legislative Council of 56. Twelve of them will be chosen by functional constituencies representing commerce,
industry, the financial sector, labour, social services, education, and
the legal, medical, and engineering and associated professions. This
/is
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