TNAG-0568-FCO40-701-Planning-paper-on-Hong-Kong-1976 — Page 97

the Saman важалі

SECRET

election of a pro-Taiwan member of the Urban Council suggests that Peking's attitudes to the question of elections will not change in the near future; but it will be interesting to see whether the plans for some sort of elections in Macao come to

fruition and whether this has any lessons for the very different circumstances of Hong Kong. Possible objections are:

A

(a) that although right in principle the execution of

these plans may not be rapid enough to contain the disquiet felt in political circles here at the absence of properly representative institutions;

passent

plums

jus mektubond

(b)

development

(c)

that a more responsive and less evidently authoritarian form of government might lead to pressure in the Colony for an elective system; and

that the Government evolved by these methods may find

itself at odds with HMG when the time comes to seek

a solution of the Hong Kong problem with the Chinese.

To these may be answered:

(a) that the execution of these plans must necessarily

take into account both the political pressures here and the political realities in Hong Kong. If right in principle, the question of timing is one which can be resolved through mutual consultation;

(b) that pressure for greater public participation in

government will inevitably increase with the new generation which has grown up in very different circumstances than their immigrant parents. It is surely far better to respond to this pressure by a system we believe acceptable to China than seeking to bottle it up under the colonial system of the past;

and

(၁)

that any negotiation with the Chinese must of necessity be done in great secrecy and over the heads of the Hong Kong Government which in any case has no locus standi in the matter. The character of that Government cannot affect the issue and if the result of the negotiation with China were unpopular with Hong Kong it would be with the population as a whole, not merely with certain members of its Government.

9

SECRET

/18.