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present constituted might well provoke a constitutional crisis with no counterveiling force in llong Kong from the vast mass of the inarticulate who have no voice in the Colony's affairs. 4. To a degree, I think the question of fiscal reform in this context is a red herring. I do not think a broadly-based universal system of taxation on the Western European model would be practical politics in the time scale of the Planning Paper. The present system is, however, indefensible in its own terms, being neither fair as between the present classes of tax-payer, nor sufficiently productive of revenue for public purposes for the evident needs of the Colony.
I do not see a reform of the present system which would not create a tax liability for the vast majority of the workers as being something which represent the wage-earning population on the Legislative Council would have any grounds to oppose.
1. And finally, the Planning Paper is based upon an admittedly under-stated assumption that a growing economy of increasing sophistication necessarily has to have an under-pinning of education, etc, enabling it to compete with other economics. It must never be forgotten that other countries lower down the scale of economic development are already providing severe competition for Hong Kong in low-technology products such as textiles. The only answer for Hong Kong is to follow the Japanese model of moving to products with a higher technological input. It is the route which Hong Kong (and Singapore) is already taking, and higher educational standards are a sine que non. The paper also has another understated assumption; this is that as the new, non-immigrant population grows up, it is unlikely to accept the benign authoritarianism of the present Government backed up by unrepresentative legal advisers in Exco and Legvo. As the way to democratically elected institutions is barred, what other process to meet growing aspirations is possible, other than a larger and more broadly-based Legco?
5. Perhaps you will be good enough to show this to Lord Goronwy-Roberts. Your submission raises some interesting, indeed fundamental points; but I am bound to say that I think our
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