ROFADC
VIII : REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG
1. The system of government in Hong Kong has evolved in a way which
has reflected the particular circumstances of the territory. Hong
Kong's population grew from about 600,000 in August 1945, to about
2.2 million in 1950. Since then the population has increased by
about 1 million each decade. In the years immediately after the war
the priority for most in Hong Kong was to ensure that the large increases in population could be accommodated in Hong Kong and could
make a living. Prospects for modest constitutional reform were made
but external events intervened. The Korean war meant that Hong Kong
lost its traditional entrepot trade with China. In the 1960's the cultural revolution in China and the consequential disturbances in
Hong Kong threatened the very existence of the territory.
2. 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. Local attitudes were no doubt also influenced by the feeling that China would be opposed to the introduction of an elected system; and by the desire not to upset the delicate balance which permitted Hong Kong to continue to exist as an enclave on the
coast of China.
This system
3. For all these reasons, there were considerable reservations within the community as a whole about the idea of election-based representative government. Instead the Hong Kong Government sought consensus through an extensive network of consultation boards and committees (now over 400), which enable members of the public to give their advice on all areas of government activity. served Hong Kong very well for many years. But as the population became increasingly settled and sophisticated, care was taken to ensure that the system evolved in a way which met the requirements and aspirations of Hong Kong people, while maintaining stability,
effective administration and economic prosperity.
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