TNAG-0268-FCO40-304-Petitions-from-rural-consultative-council-of-new-territories-1970 — Page 8

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Please see the attached draft submission. 27 Lü

For the following reasons I have been in some doubt as to the form that the submission should take.

3. The Heung Yee Kuk have raised on earlier occasions, with the previous administration, the question of the representation of the New Territories on the Executive and Legislative Councils. A good- will delegation from the Heung Yee Kuk visited this country in February, 1968, and made representations to Ministers on a number of matters including this particular issue. The delegation saw the then

Secretary of State and the then Minister of State and included their representations in memoranda which they presented to those Ministers. Both Ministers informed the delegation that their representations would be considered and that replies would be sent to them through the Governor in due course.

4. In March, 1968, we sent the Governor a saving despatch with our comments on the issues raised by the delegation with our suggestions for the framing of a reply on the points raised. At the same time we asked the Governor for his recommendations as to the form of reply to be sent.

5. Hong Kong took nearly two years to reply to the above saving despatch and meanwhile, in March, 1969, the Chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk addressed a memorandum to Mr. Royle, in his then capacity as a Member of Parliament, raising much the same issues as before. Mr. Royle handed the memorandum to the then Secretary of State in the same month and we passed it on to the Governor in April, 1969, asking for his recommendations as to the form of reply to be sent to it.

6. Eventually, after a number of reminders, the Governor sent us, in January, 1970, his recommendations as to the replies to be sent to both memoranda. At the end of January, 1970, we sent the Governor drafts of replies to the two memoranda which we asked him to send to the Heung Yee Kuk. The replies were eventually sent to the Heung Yee Kuk by the Hong Kong Government on 13 March, 1970.

7. Since the above events all relate to the previous administration, I am in doubt as to how much of this history should be mentioned in the attached submission. Mr. Royle will doubtless recall the memorandum that he handed to the Secretary of State in March, 1969, but he will no doubt equally appreciate that a different administration was in power at the time. I have therefore kept to a minimum (see para. 5 of the submission) references to these earlier representations. However, you may consider that no reference should be made to them at all.

ANT

(A.W. Gaminara) 11 December,

1970

Registry

No.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

Top-Secret:

Secret.

Confidential.

Restricted. Unclassified.

PRIVACY MARKING

..In Confidence

DRAFT

submission

Type 1 +

From

To:-

Mr. Wilford

Mr. Laird

Telephone No. & Ext.

Department

Flag A

Flag B

Problem

Representations by the Heung Yee Kuk The Rural Consultative Council for the New Territories Hong Kong)

When the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

was in Hong Kong in October, the Heung Yee Kuk handed

him a letter concerning the representation of the

New Territories on the Colony's Executive and

Legislative Councils. They had addressed a similar letter to the Hong Kong Government shortly before

Mr. Royle's visit to the Colony. The Governor has

now sent us a translation (together with the original) of the letter addressed to Mr. Royle and

the draft of a proposed reply to both letters.

Recommendation

24

I recommend that the Governor be authorised to

reply to the Heung Yee Kuk in terms of the attached

draft letter. Apart from certain minn

Background

3.

the dr.

drags in the same proposed by the Grunn. джип,

as that

The Heung Yee Kuk (the Rural Consultative

Council of the New Territories) is a statutory

elected and wholly advisory body whose functions

include the promotion of cooperation and understanding

among the peoples of the New Territories and between

the Hong Kong Government and the peoples of the

New Territories.

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It also advises the Government on social and economic

developments in the interests of the welfare and

the people of

prosperity of the area.

4.

The Heung Yee Kuk's letter to the Parliamentary

Under-Secretary asks:

5.

(1) that certain (unspecified)Government

officials in the New Territories

Administration should be appointed

as ex-officio members of the

Executive Council; and

(2) that some members of the Heung Yee

Kuk itself should be appointed as

unofficial members of both the

Executive and Legislative Councils.

This is not the first time that the question

of New Territories representation on the central

councils of Government has been raised by the

Heung Yee Kuk. They have raised it on two previous

occasions during the last two years (in February

1968 and in January 1969) and the reply now proposed

by the Governor reiterates the replies sent on those

occasions.

6.

To accede to the Heung Yee Kuk's requests would

in fact involve a complete review of the membership

of both Councils, with all the dangers and

difficulties that would attend such an exercise.

invy

In particular, the appointment of members of the

Heung Yee Kuk (which is an elected body) as

unofficial members of the Legislative Council would

almost cervoni

undoubtedly lead to demands from the Urban Council

for similar treatment to be accorded to that body.

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