TNAG-1840-FCO40-2615-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 134

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

Top Secret

Secret

DSR 11C (Revised 5/87)

geographical basis by an electoral college comprising all

members of the Urban and Regional Councils and District

Boards. The other 32 members of the Legislative Council

were either officials (10) or appointed members (22).

Confidential

Restricted

Unclassified

PRIVACY MARKING

In Confidence

The Hong

31. The 1984 White Paper also considered the question

of direct elections to the Legislative Council.

Kong Government noted that although there was strong

public support for the idea of direct elections,

there was little support for such elections in the

immediate future. They undertook to hold a review in

1987, before the 1988 elections, to give an opportunity

for further consultation about the development of

representative government, including specifically the

introduction of direct elections.

32. The review duly took place in 1987 as promised.

The options were set out in a Green Paper "The 1987

Review of Developments in Representative Government"

published in May this year. It covered many aspects of

representative government, among them the question of

whether, and if so when, there should be a directly

elected element in the Legislative Council. A Survey

Office was set up to collect and report on public opinion

on the Green Paper. It operated outside the ordinary

machinery of government and without interference from the

Two independent monitors were appointed

administration.

to oversee its work and to ensure that the Office carried

out its duties in a fair and objective way. The Review

generated considerable public interest. The sounding of