TNAG-2119-FCO40-3025-Future-of-Hong-Kong-general-1990 — Page 79

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danger of breakdown in authority and serious 'ungovernability'.

Nonetheless, there are still growing signs that to maintain

effective governance in the remaining years of colonial rule will

become increasingly difficult. One of the indicators of

'ungovernability' is the weakened will of the officials to

govern. Though hard evidence is difficult to come by (for there

is a tendency for officials plagued by a threatening political

environment to become more secretive), impressionistic data seem

to show a governing bureaucracy suffering from demoralization, a

numbing sense of uncertainty and defeatist sentiments. The

weakened will to govern is particularly true with respect to the

expatriate officials, whose political future in Hong Kong is

clouded. It would be hard for them to overcome the enervating

sense of passivity and resignation as well as the disruptive

instinct arising from a sense of frustration. This would have

serious implications for the way Hong Kong is governed in the

next few years. Moreover, such a disposition on the part of

expatriate officials and their local colleagues who share similar

attitudes or who plan to quit before the Chinese takeover would

pit them against local officials who see a career beyond 1997 or

who have commitment to the place. If such is the case, internal

conflicts within the government will increase in the near future

and further hampen its ability to govern effectively.

There is a predisposition of government officials to react

nervously and occasionally paranoiacally to external criticisms.

It is not uncommon for the government to take unnecessarily