TNAG-1310-FCO40-1667-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 27

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Mr. Hann

л Руса

Cr

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Fik Kololi ope

SECRETARY OF STATE'S BRIEFING FOR LOBBY: CORRESPONDENTS

9 MAY 1984 ON HONG KONG

17 MAY 1984

?

Q.

A.

Elections in the interim period?

ESTRY

kum Taken

7 Cunl

Yes it is one of the things that has not developed in

HK as it has done in most other parts of the world for which

we have been responsible for a variety of reasons, not least

for some time because of some anxiety as to whether that

would be the right road to go down in the context of the

Chinese position and some anxiety as to the manageability

of it in what has been a very rapidly changing and growing

community. But I made plain in my HK statement that we

thought it would be right for HK to move towards an

increasingly representative pattern of government. That

includes either direct elections or indirect elections

because they tend to have a system and approach which favours

the idea of the emergence of one tier of elected leaders from

elections at the lower level. I am not sure how far the

are

proposal9€xtending the regional board system throughout the

Colony has now got. It is under consideration but not yet

been carried through. It is planned to come into effect during 1985/86. It is important to understand that detailed

arrangements of that kind are very much undertaken by the HKG

in consultation with their own Legislative Council and we and

they are reflecting the very point that you are making: the

need to build a more pervasive, representative, pattern of government ahead of the expiry of the lease in 1997. But precise tempo/pattern will be decided by HKG on the spot.

the Chinese in favour of

Q. Are these regional boards a moves towards democracy?

A.

They have not responded adversely to this which is

encouraging because the more one can create a broadly based,

HK based, indigenous structure of government which will enable

the election or selection to this indirect process to take

place, then the more firmly based will be the special HK nature of the special administrative region which will emerge after 1997.

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