TNAG-1289-FCO40-1641-Terminology-for-the-description-of-Hong-Kong-by-internationa-1984 — Page 116

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JOINT STATEMENT ON THE GREEN PAPER ON "THE FURTHER

DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG"

China will resume exercising its sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, and transform Hong Kong into a highly autonomous Special Administrative Region. This is a reality already known to the people of Hong Kong.

At present, the authority of the Hong Kong Government comes from the United Kingdom, decision-making power basically concentrates in the hands of the Governor, while the Legislative and Executive Councils are practically consultative organs. To realize domocratic self- administration, this kind of political system must be reformed step by step.

The objective of political reforms in Hong Kong is: to accord with the development of history, to return governmental authority to the people step by step, to create the conditions for the establishment of a democratic highly autonomous system of self-administration, to progress beyond 1997 in a smooth stable manner, so as to promote prosperity, stability and development of the community.

The Green Paper on "The Further Development of Representative Government in Hong Kong" is not in accord with the above objective of political reforms. Its proposals will not. change the essence of the existing system of consultative government and ultimately they will not return governmental authority to the people. Therefore, its proposals are not in accord with the development of history and the interests of the Hong Kong people.

We believe: only through direct elections to the Legislative Council and reforming step by step the existing political system will conditions for a system of government rooted in Hong Kong, directly accountable to the people of Hong Kong, and the authority for which comes from the people of Hong Kong, be created. The future Legislative Council, following the continued increase of directly elected Councillors until they assume a majority of or all of the Council seats, will become the legislature with the highest representativeness and authority.

The progress of reforms as envisaged by the Green Paper completely excludes direct elections to the Legislative Council, and this has been widely critized. Whether or not revisions will be made in the White Paper concerning this point will reflect whether or not the Government accepts public opinion and is willing to return governmental authority to the people.

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We unanimously demand by 1988, Legislative Council should have no less than one-fifth of its members directly elected.

The key to the present political reforms is to fight for direct elections to the Legislative Council. To realize this objective, we must join hands with the community and try our utmost. We now appeal to all people and social groups of Hong Kong.

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To actively participate, register as voters, and cast the ballot enthusiastically and carefully, support candidates who genuinely reflect the will of the people and who can assume responsibility and exercise the right of supervision over the elected.

To push for the spread of education for democracy, with the present priority of special emphasizing the comprehensive and in-depth explanation of the significance of direct elections, so as to establish a solid foundation for the democratization of Hong Kong's political system:

c) To strengthen communication and co-operation among

various social groups, extend liaison and promote unity among various social strata; at the same time, citizens should through different channels euthusiastically present their demands to the Government, and work for the realization of direct elections and the return of governmental authority to the people.