SECRE I
a trader and that improvements which increase costs to a point
at which trade is lost and unemployment rises are self-defeating.
Clearly if criticism of labour conditions in Hong Kong is to
be met a coherent programme of legislation to bring conditions up to the comparable best in Asia is necessary. Such a programme is suggested in Annex D.
Institutions
13.
Further social progress in Hong Kong will depend on
public support for the necessary legislation and for higher
taxation if required to implement it. The normal method for
mobilising this through democratic representative institutions is precluded in the case of Hong Kong. China's opposition to the development of such institutions, which could affect their
claim to sovereignty and lead to growth of KMT influence in
the Colony is well understood by the local population.
14.
Other more limited solutions to the problem of
introducing elective institutions have been suggested:
(a) the election of only a few unofficial members of the
Legislative Council;
(b) appointment of a specified number of those elected to
the Urban Council (a municipal body with limited powers partly
elected on a very limited franchise);
(c) extension of the Urban Council's field of responsibility.
There are, however powerful objections to these suggestions:
(a) is likely to create the same difficulties with Peking as any
move towards more widespread elective processes; (b) does not
take account of the generally unrepresentative character of those
elected to the Urban Council; and (c) will lead to undesirable
fragmentation of power within so small a community.
10
•
11
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.