TNAG-0305-FCO40-341-Use-of-Chinese-as-official-language-in-Hong-Kong-1971 — Page 71

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Committee of the Hong Kong Federation of Students are

seeking Mr Royle's views specifically on their request

that legislation be enacted to provide that both English

and Chinese are made "official languages of Hong Kong,

equal in status, with the usage of the Chinese

language defined in specific areas".

5. The four reports submitted by the Chinese

Language Committee were presented to the Governor and

it is accordingly for the Hong Kong Government in the

first place to consider the recommendations in those

reports. We know that the Governor in Council has

accepted in principle the recommendations contained

in the Committee's first report. (These involve,

inter alia, the provision of simultaneous inter-

pretation facilities for the Legislative and Urban

Councils as the first step, to be followed by the

provision of similar facilities for Boards and

bla

•

Committees "utilising the services of non-English

speaking persons") But we do not know what stage has

been reached by the Hong Kong Government in its

consideration of the recommendations contained in the

remaining three reports submitted by the Committee.

It would, I suggest be inappropriate for the

Minister to express any views on the matters raised

by the Language Action Committee of the Hong Kong

Federation of Students pending the outcome of the

Hong Kong Government's deliberations on the

recommendations made by the Chinese Language Committee.

It is clear from the four reports submitted by that

Committee

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