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DSR 11C (Revised 5/87)
population, mainly from China. The priority for a large
proportion of this transient and highly mobile population
was that Hong Kong should be an environment in which they
could settle and make a prosperous living, rather than
the development of representative government. It was not
until 1981 that more than 50 per cent of the population
of Hong Kong were actually born in the territory. A
further consideration, to which many people in the
community attached particular weight, was the fear that
the introduction of party politics on western lines would
serve to polarise the community and to reproduce in Hong
Kong the rivalries that continued to exist between the
Chinese Communists and Nationalists. Such rivalries
could have had a seriously destabilising effect on the
territory. Against this background, there were
considerable reservations within the community as a whole
about the idea of election-based representative
government. Consequently, a system of government based
on consensus and consultation through Advisory Committees
evolved. This system served Hong Kong very well for many
years. But at the same time, as the population became
increasingly settled and sophisticated, the Hong Kong
Government took the lead in ensuring that the system
evolved in a way which met the requirements and
aspirations of this changing society, while maintaining
stability, effective administration and economic
prosperity.
29.
The development of representative government has
taken place against this background. The process in
effect began at the local level in the 1970s, with the
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