TNAG-2455-FCO40-3576-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-presentation-1992 — Page 73

Draft Dear Colleague Letter

HONG KONG:

CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

1.

Chris Patten will be making a wide ranging policy speech to the Hong Kong Legislative Council on 7 October. I know that you take an interest in Hong Kong affairs and therefore wanted to brief you promptly on the main points he will be announcing on constitutional development.

2. Hong Kong has changed rapidly in recent years. There is now much more political awareness. Hong Kong's political system has already evolved a long way in the direction of democracy. In considering the next steps in that evolution, Chris Patten has canvassed views on all sides, but particularly among the people of Hong Kong. It is they who must make the system work, and live with the consequences. His conclusion, which the Government endorse, is that changes are now needed to:

meet the needs of effective and accountable government; make the electoral system more democratic and fair; and maximise the chances of continuity through 1997 by exploiting to the full the flexibility available within the Basic Law.

3.

I enclose a summary of the Governor's main proposals. They fall into two parts. First, there are steps to be taken straightaway to make Hong Kong's representative institutions more effective, and the Hong Kong Government more accountable to them. The Governor intends to separate the membership of the Executive and Legislative Councils so that no non-official members of LegCo would also serve on ExCo. This will end the arrangement whereby representatives of some political groups in ExCo served on LegCo while others did not. It will enable both Councils to perform more effectively by clarifying the functions of each. In particular, it will free all LegCo politicians to develop their parties and programmes free from the constraints of ExCo membership. The Governor is bringing on to ExCo some respected members of the Community without party political involvement. He will also be taking other steps to improve accountability: he will step down as President of LegCo and make himself available regularly to answer questions there. A new Government/LegCo Business Committee will be established to enable the administration to discuss the handling of its legislative and financial programmes with representatives of LegCo.

4. These steps are all part of maintaining effective British administration of Hong Kong up to 1 July 1997, and on these issues the Governor will therefore be announcing decisions.

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