TNAG-2446-FCO40-3562-Political-parties-in-Hong-Kong-1992 — Page 7

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Mr. Anthony Cheung and 11 other members of

The Meeting Point called on the Governor on 23 July. Governor said that he had been keen to meet all the main political groups as soon as possible after his arrival. He regarded this as a preliminary meeting and looked

But at this stage forward to many others in the future.

The media he would not say much about his own views. would no doubt be interested in the discussion and he would be grateful if members of Meeting Point would not put words in his mouth when talking to the press.

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Mr. Anthony Cheung thanked the Governor for inviting Meeting Point members to Government House. handed over a memorandum that they had prepared (attached) setting out the main issues of concern to them. The Governor asked where most of Meeting Point's support came from. Mr. Cheung said that Meeting Point members were mainly professionals, although they had strong grass-root support in some Districts as well. They were part of the liberal camp, so cooperated with other groups such as UDHK and ADPL. In particular, they shared a view on the need for more democracy in Hong Kong.

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Mr. Cheung said that political groups were now becoming part of the Hong Kong scene. He would like to know the Governor's views on party politics and on the

The Government's relations with political groups. Governor said that he in turn would be interested in the view of Meeting Point members on how, given the increased degree of public participation in Hong Kong, he and the executive could secure a majority in LegCo, without having a Government Party. Mr. Cheung said that as the Hong Kong Government was not elected, it needed to secure a majority. If political groups were to play a constructive role, they should be able to represent the diversified views of the community. So the Government should find a mechanism to give these groups a role in forming policy; for example, by appointments to ExCo and Advisory Committees. Mr. Fred Li said that some Advisory Committees were quite political, while others were mainly professional. Since the LegCo elections in 1991, there did not seem to have been any increase in the appointment of liberals to the committees. On the other hand, there did not seem to be any particular trend to de-politicise the committees.

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