TNAG-2601-FCO40-3789-Departure-of-Lord-Wilson--former-Governor-of-Hong-Kong--July-1992 — Page 82

1992-01-02 12:30 INFORMATION SERVICES DEPT

852 521 7725 P. 11/13

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ENGLISH MEDIA GOVERNOR

Remarks by Chairman of Anglo-HK Parliamentary Group, Sir Peter Blaker, in London on Sir David's successor were carried by HKS. Sir Peter said the new Governor should be acceptable to HK people and be firm and bold in defending the rights and interests of HK. He believed that Whitehall would consider the views of HK when picking the new Governor. Meanwhile, former Governor Lord Maclehose was quoted by the paper.as saying the new Governor should be acceptable to people in HK, Peking and London regardless of his race and background. Quoting the Daily Telegraph, HKS in the front page said Dr David Owen was tipped as the man most likely to succeed Sir David as Governor of HK. Quoting a top Government source, the Post yesterday reported that a new Governor would probably take over from Sir David in summer, in time to enable him to make the policy address to the Legco in October. The source said to avoid a power vacuum, CS would retire only months after Sir David.

Meanwhile, both papers noted that a signed commentary in yesterday's Wen Wei Po had tacitly accused Britain of trying to destablise the territory by announcing the retirement of Sir David without naming a successor. The commentary said the arrangement was an extraordinary political move which would create a "lame-duck" image of the Governor. Such an image would help a plan by London to transfer more power to the Legco. Meanwhile, the Post said legislators remained divided on whether it was meaningful for them to discuss the desired qualifications of Sir David's successor at their in-house meeting tomorrow. Emily Lau, who would propose the discussion, said councillors should try to express their view or reach a consensus for London's consideration. However, both Rita Fan and Moses Cheng doubted whether London would listen to local views.

The Post, in an editorial, said while most would scoff at the conspiracy theory suggested by the signed commentary in Wen Wei Po, HK would be better served if Peking were more gracious about the change in governors and attempted to understand better the role of the Legco. Attacking Britain over the timing of the announcement and making known the qualities it would like in Sir David's successor only reinforced the impression that another Sinologist diplomat as governor might repeat the past experiences of negotiating — and compromising - with Peking behind HK's back.

HKS in an editorial paid tribute to Sir David for his vision and determination over many issues. The paper said the next Governor must be a strong admininstrator who was willing to speak and act on behalf of HK people whenever the need arose.

SURVEYS

An opinion survey by ACR of 415 respondents and commissioned by the Post was reported by the paper yesterday. The poll showed that the Governor continued to enjoy public support. Almost two-thirds of the respondents rated him highly and only 28 per cent showed any displeasure. The Government, however, fared worse than a year ago. About 46 per cent were satisfied with its performance and 44 per cent were not. Nearly half of the respondents felt they would be worse off in 1992. Meanwhile, HKS. quoted an opinion poll by HKS as showing that the Governor was slightly more popular among women than men. The Governor scored an average of 65.2 points among female in a 100-point scale while men gave him 63.9 points.