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Adjournment
Debate-
Elected Representation on the Central Councils of Government
6. This has been raised in one form or another on several
occasions during the last two years. The whole matter was
thoroughly aired when Mr. Rankin raised it as the subject of an
adjournment debate in April 1967. He last raised it in July
1968 and the reply that he was then given is now included in
Paragraph 7 of the attached Notes for Supplementaries.
Attitude of the Chinese Peoples' Republic towards Constitutional
Development in Hong Kong.
7. There can be no constitutional development towards self-
Government in Hong Kong, because the Chinese Peoples' Governmat
would react very sharply to such a course and have made it clear
that they expect the constitutional status quo to be maintained
in the Colony.
Possible Developments in Local Government
8. For this reason the Hong Kong Government have been exploring
the possibilities of developments in the sphere of Local
Government to enable the people of Hong Kong to participate to
a greater extent in the conduct of the affairs of the Colony.
In 1965 it was decided to extend the franchise for election to
the Urban Council to an estimated 240,000 persons, but only
approximately 26,000 people bothered to register as voters.
now after a major exercise not so long ago to persuade as many
eligible voters as possible to register, only some 35,000 persong
have been sufficiently interested to do so. In 1966 an
official working party was set up to suggest possible lines of
development in the sphere of local government. The working
party's report was published early in 1967, and has since been
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