We Manil
agree to kans
oper
A.R
A
ہے
CONFIDENT LAL
9. A summary of the course of events leading to the present
position is attached at Appendix A.
Argument
10.
The Bill was published in July, 1969, for general information,
and comments were received from a wide range of interested parties (paragraph 6 of Appendix A). These comments, so far as they were
considered valid, were included in a new draft Bill, and in November,
1969, the Executive Council advised that the revised Bill should be
introduced into the Legislative Council. Can we deny Hong Kong
the right to determine her own internal affairs because of the
constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom which is not of our choosing but is preserved solely because of Mainland China's attitude towards the Colony? The Colony's remarkable record of
economic expansion and material progress in the last decade, achieved with the minimum of outside aid, has induced a feeling of confidence among those who play a prominent part in public affairs that, but for the complication of China, Hong Kong would be capable of standing on her own feet and, more than any British dependent territory which
has been granted constitutional advance since the war, of sustaining
self-governing status. The Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils, supported by public opinion as expressed
in the non-Communist press, are therefore inclined to argue that
Britain should not interfere in local affairs.
11.
The Legal Adviser cannot provide any arguments in terms of law to justify the retention of Clause 10. If, therefore, the Bill, including Clause 10, becomes law and HMG are subsequently criticised in either Hong Kong or London for agreeing to the measure, such
criticism will have to be answered on the grounds that corruption in Hong Kong presents special problems and that the proposals to deal with it have been given wide publicity and have been accepted by the responsible local authorities as the minimum necessary to deal with the situation. Moreover, if when the Bill is introduced into
Legislative Council the inclusion of Clause 10 arouses serious public concern the clause can be dropped at the Committee Stage without embarrassment either to HMG or to the Hong Kong Goverment.
3 September, 1970
A
W. Gaminara)
Hong Kong Department
CONFIDENT IAL
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.