TNAG-1317-FCO40-1720-Future-of-Hong-Kong-meetings-of-the-Cabinet-Defence-and-Over-1984 — Page 78

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There will also be indirect expressions of opinion (e.g. editorials and letters to newspapers). These should continue to be monitored

and, where appropriate, taken into account.

11. The nature of the

· process is

assessment process will dictate that it

should be undertaken by the Hong Kong Government. However, if the

command credibility in Hong Kong, with Parliament and

elsewhere, it should be undertaken by machinery which will be seen as being distanced from the ordinary machinery of the Hong Kong

Government.

To this end, a special assessment office should be set

up, under the charge of a senior government official (i.e. of

Secretary or Head of Department rank) and reporting direct to the

Governor, to undertake the task of collating, summarising, analysing

and assessing expressions of view received either directly or

through other parts of the government machinery, and of producing a

final report (preceded by a number of interim reports if necessary).

12. The final report drawn up by the assessment office should include factual summaries, by broad sectoral groupings, of all the

views expressed, and an overall assessment of the extent of

acceptance of the draft agreement.

The report would need to be

public could be made aware of

published in Hong Kong so that the

what views have been expressed and could see for themselves that the assessment had been carried out impartially.

13. It is also proposed that either HMG or the Governor should

appoint a small team of independent 'monitors' to

Oversee the work

of the assessment office. The reason for this is to avoid the

criticism that either HMG or the HKG had 'fixed' the assessment.

Moreover it is quite possible that in the absence of official

'monitors', some unofficial group would set itself up in this role. This would be very divisive.

14. It is not envisaged that the 'monitors' should carry out a role similar to that of the Pearce Commission in Rhodesia, and it would therefore be important that the 'monitors' should be given very carefully drawn terms of reference. These would make it clear that

their job was to ensure that the assessment was carried out fairly

by the assessment office,

and that the office had followed the

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