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Sir J Coles
PS/Mr Goodlad
CONFIDENTIAL
MA3 011/3
FROM: P F Ricketts, HKD DATE: 21 April 1992
cc: Mr Burns o/r
O Copy the Morning
(for Governor
signate
Mr Davies, FED Mr Broadbent,
Economic Advisers
Mr Wye, RAD
corner,
boy
Se
M
22 APR 1992 in due
Course)
Cabinet Office
M
Miss Song
HONG KONG: POLITICAL SITUATION
23/
1. The Minister might be interested to see the attached letter from Mr Alan Paul, the Deputy Head of our Delegation to the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group in Hong Kong, analysing the Hong Kong political situation and in particular the Hong Kong Government's recent difficulties in getting their budget through the Legislative Council (LegCo).
2. One of our problems in dealing with Hong Kong is that we do not have a conventional "British Embassy". The Governor and his people send us large numbers of reports. But they are not well placed to send us objective political reporting and analysis of the Hong Kong scene, in which they are of course major players. The British Trade Commission, staffed by FCO people, does not have a political brief.
3. The other British Diplomatic Service Mission in Hong Kong is our delegation to the Joint Liaison Group. Their main function is to represent Britain in the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group, whose task is to prepare for a smooth transition in 1997. But they also do some informal reporting on the Hong Kong political scene, to plug what would otherwise be a serious gap. The convention is that they copy this on a personal basis to the Governor, who comments if he sees fit. But it is an independent British Diplomatic Service view on events in Hong Kong.
4. Mr Paul's latest letter is particularly interesting in illustrating the growing political problems faced by the Hong Kong Government. They now have a more assertive LegCo with a majority of directly-elected members. But they do not have a "Government Party". The Hong Kong Government itself did not stand in the elections. It needs a majority in LegCo to pass legislation or funding proposals such as the budget. Until recently it has been able to depend on the appointed members to give it an automatic majority. Now that elected members are in the majority, the Government are having to work much harder to build coalitions of support among elected members, all of whom see some benefit in distancing themselves from the Governments more unpopular proposals such as measures to
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CONFIDENTIAL
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