TNAG-1599-FCO40-2192-Hong-Kong-1987-Review-of-Representative-Government-1987 — Page 124

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The question is: Did AGB McNair HK Ltd. frame this

Questionnaire on its own accord; or had it been instructed to

copy or at least base the questionnaire on the summary of the

Green Paper? If the former, then there is a clear case of AGB

McNair HK Ltd. failing to discharge its professional duty of

implications are much

more

care towards the Survey Office, its principal. But if the

latter is the case, then the

serious, for it would suggest that the Government had

deliberately wanted to engineer a particular result, namely,

that the people of Hong Kong do not want to see direct

elections introduced in 1988. Many people in Hong Kong firmly

believe that the result contained in the two public opinion

surveys was precisely what China and the British Administration

here wanted to see,

to see, for that would spare the British government

of having to confront China over an

political issue. But the question is: can

these survey results?

extremely sensitive

we possibly accept

"No"

at

page

41.

elections

Fairness

to the Legislative Council are

would have demanded

I suggest that the answer has to be a resounding

Let us look briefly at paragraph 163 of the Green

Sub-paragraph (ii) reads: "to conclude that direct

Paper

not desirable."

another

question

to follow it,

namely, "to conclude that direct

Council are desirable."

elections to

the

Legislative

"