PENDLETON.
GOOD EVENING.
CALLER:
MY QUESTION IS: BE INTRODUCED IN STAGES IN HONG KONG?
WHY DOES DEMOCRACY HAVE TO
SHORT THAT'S A VERY NICE, SIR DAVID: MR PENDLETON, GOOD EVENING. QUESTION. LET ME TRY TO ANSWER IT, AND NOT TOO BRIEFLY, BECAUSE I THINK ONE HAS TO GO BACK A LITTLE BIT INTO THE HISTORY OF HONG KONG WHICH I AM SURE YOU KNOW VERY WELL BUT OTHER LISTENERS MIGHT NOT. UNTIL VERY RECENTLY WE HAVE RUN A SYSTEM WHERE AT THE TOP LEVEL IN OUR LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY ELECTED MEMBERS OF THAT COUNCIL; WE HAVE AT OTHER LEVELS OF THE SYSTEM BUT NOT AT OUR LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. WE HAVE RUN AN APPOINTED SYSTEM AND FOR MANY, MANY YEARS IT SERVED HONG KONG WELL AND I THINK PEOPLE WERE WELL CONTENT WITH IT. BUT TIMES HAVE CHANGED, PEOPLE'S ATTITUDES HAVE CHANGED, THERE IS A VERY REAL AND A VERY UNDERSTANDABLE DESIRE FOR MORE DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, A MORE DIRECT SYSTEM OF REPRESENTATION, SO WE ARE NOW MOVING IN THAT DIRECTION. AND, AS YOU KNOW, WE NOW HAVE INDIRECTLY ELECTED MEMBERS OF OUR COUNCIL AND NEXT YEAR WE MAKE A VERY MAJOR STEP FORWARD, WE HAVE NOT ONLY A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE DIRECTLY ELECTED BUT ABOUT TWO-THIRDS OF THE WHOLE COUNCIL WILL BE ELECTED ONE WAY OR ANOTHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY. NOW, THAT IS WHAT WE ARE DOING FOR MEETING THE NEW NEEDS, THE NEW DESIRES IN HONG KONG, NOW, THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO WOULD LIKE TO GO FASTER AND IT SOUNDED FROM YOUR QUESTION AS THOUGH YOU MAY BE ONE OF THEM. WE HAVE ANOTHER LIMIT, WHICH AGAIN I'M SURE YOU KNOW BUT OTHER LISTENERS MAY NOT, AND THAT IS THAT COME 1997 THE LAW PASSED IN CHINA, WHAT IS CALLED THE BASIC LAW, CAN LAY DOWN WHAT THE COMPOSITION OF OUR LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL SHOULD BE AND HAS RECENTLY, EARLIER THIS YEAR, LAID IT DOWN WITH A CERTAIN LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF DIRECTLY ELECTED PEOPLE. SO WE WILL HAVE A COMPLETELY ELECTED COUNCIL BUT 20 SEATS OUT OF 60 WILL BE DIRECTLY ELECTED AND THE OTHERS WILL BE INDIRECTLY ELECTED. NOW, MANY PEOPLE IN HONG KONG WOULD HAVE WANTED MORE DIRECT ELECTIONS BUT THAT IS, I THINK, A REAL LIMIT BECAUSE IF WE DON'T TAKE ACCOUNT OF IT WE ARE BUILDING UP A SYSTEM WHICH IS THEN DISMANTLED IN 1997, WHEREAS WHAT WE WANT TO TRY TO ACHIEVE IS A SMOOTH PROGRESS RIGHT THROUGH 1997 WITH AS FEW JOLTS TO THE SYSTEM AS WE CAN POSSIBLY ACHIEVE.
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OLIVER SCOTT: MR PENDLETON, DOES THAT SATISFY YOU?
CALLER: NOT REALLY. MY VIEW IS THAT DEMOCRACY COULD BE INTRODUCED MUCH QUICKER, AS IT IS IN EASTERN EUROPE. DOES THE GOVERNOR NOT FEEL THAT THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT MAY STOP THE GRADUAL PROCESS TOWARDS DEMOCRACY COME 1997?
SIR DAVID:
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WELL, I THINK IT IS NOW LAID DOWN VERY CLEARLY IN THE BASIC LAW WHICH THE CHINESE THEMSELVES THE CHINESE NATIONAL PEOPLE'S CONGRESS THAT ITSELF HAS PASSED, AND THERE IS A VERY CLEAR PROGRESS MY OWN PERSONAL OF INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF DIRECTLY ELECTED SEATS. CONCERN FOR THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE IS THAT WE SHOULD MAKE A SUCCESS OF THE MAJOR STEP FORWARD WE ARE TAKING NEXT YEAR IN 1991, THAT IS AND I DON'T BRINGING IN FOR THE FIRST TIME 18 DIRECTLY ELECTED SEATS. THINK WE SHOULD DECEIVE OURSELVES; THIS IS NOT SOMETHING WHICH IS THOSE GOING TO BE SIMPLE. WHAT WE NEED IS PEOPLE TO TAKE PART IN ELECTIONS. IT'S ONE THING TO SAY, WE SHOULD HAVE MORE DEMOCRACY; IT'S QUITE ANOTHER THING FOR PEOPLE TO MAKE THE IMMENSE AMOUNT OF EFFORT,
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