TNAG-0518-FCO40-613-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1975 — Page 91

SECRET

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Mr Male

Sir D Watson

Devong-Roberto

PS/Lord Goronwy-Roberts

NSWD 79/4

HONG KONG:

1.

MEMBERSHIP OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

The General Secretary of the Labour Party, Mr R G Hayward, wrote to the Secretary of State on 20 March enquiring about the next appointments to the Legislative Council in Hong Kong.

2.

I attach a list of the Legislative Council's 15 Unofficial Members, showing when their current terms of membership will expire. Following my submission of 13 March, Sir D Watson had already asked the Governor to indicate, before he comes to London

next month, how he intends to fill the three vacancies which will arise this year (Sir D Watson's letter of 17 March).

3.

I have consulted the Governor by telegram about the Secretary of State's reply to Mr Hayward (FCO telno. 225 and Hong Kong telno. 293), and he clearly thinks there is very limited scope for injecting new blood into the Legislative Council during 1975. Only three out of fifteen appointments fall vacant this year. Of these, two are recent appointments and the

Governor, understandably, does not want to unsettle the Legislative Council with too rapid a turnover of members. Furthermore, one of these two recent appointments is an elected member of Hong Kong's Urban Council, and the Governor is naturally unwilling to lose from the Legislative Council a representative of Hong Kong's only elected public body. The Governor does intend to find a replacement for the remaining one of this year's three vacancies and has in mind the (Chinese) Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong University. But he may not be able to accept this appointment because of his other commitments.

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