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INTEL
By Bag
Foreign Office and Whitehall Distribution
From Foreign Office to certain of Her Majesty's Representatives
No. 82. INTEL
June 23, 1964
HONG KONG AND THE UNITED NATIONS
The United Nations Committee of Twenty-four may discuss Hong Kong this year. It is on the list of non-self-governing territories and the committee secretariat have already prepared, in readiness for discussion, a working paper giving constitutional, economic, and social information about the colony.
Constitutional and Economic Position
2. The extent of the colony is described in paragraph 8 below. On the total land area of nearly 400 square miles live about 34 million people, more than 99 per cent of them Chinese.
3. The Governor is The Queen's representative and head of the administration. The chief executive body is the Executive Council, which the Governor is required to consult on all important matters. The council is presided over by the Governor and consists at present of five ex officio together with one other official and six non-official members nominated by the Governor. Its primary function is to advise the Governor, and if the Governor acts otherwise than in accordance with that advice he must report his reasons fully to Her Majesty's Government.
4. The Legislative Council consists of 17 members presided over by the Governor. The council includes the five ex officio members of the Executive Council, together with four other official members and eight non-official members nominated by the Governor. The Governor has consultations and receives recommendations about the council's membership, and the non-official members are appointed from among the most able members of the community. Laws are enacted by the Governor acting with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council. The council controls finance and expenditure through its Standing Finance Committee. This has a majority of non-official members, all the non-official members of the council being members of the committee.
5. In the sphere of local government, there is an Urban Council for the urban areas of Victoria and Kowloon. The council consists of 16 ordinary members, 8 of them elected and 8 appointed by the Governor, and five Government officials concerned with urban affairs. The elected members are elected on a franchise consisting of all men and women over the age of 21 who are on the lists of special and common jurors. (All persons between the ages of 21 and 60 are liable to serve as jurors, subject to certain exceptions, if they are residents of Hong Kong and have a sufficient knowledge of English to understand the proceedings.) The franchise is also extended to persons over 21 who are exempted from jury service and to those who, although not qualified for jury service, are taxpayers, members of the defence force, or recognised teachers. In the remaining areas of the colony there are 27 rural committees which advise on the administration of their areas. They are normally elected by and from village representatives by secret ballot every two years.
6. The Governor announced last March that Her Majesty's Government proposed to make certain modifications to the composition of the Legislative Council in order to enable the Governor to bring on to the council persons able to represent the views of a wider cross section of the community than is possible with the present numbers. The proposed changes will increase by five the number of non-official members of the council and by three the number of official seats. On the floor of the council there will thus be 13 non-official and 12 official seats, but the Governor's powers under the Constitution will be maintained by virtue of his original and casting votes. For similar reasons it is proposed to increase the membership of the Urban Council by four non-official seats, namely two elected and two nominated members.
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