TNAG-2711-FCO40-3917-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-and-Par-1993 — Page 96

development of democracy as part of the preparations for eventual independence. For historical reasons, reinforced by geography and economics, Hong Kong has not had the option of becoming an independent state. The attitude of Hong Kong people has reflected this reality. When relatively modest proposals for constitutional reform were made by the then Governor in the

period following the Second World War, they met with virtually no public support in Hong Kong. The territory was then

preoccupied with absorbing and accommodating very large numbers of migrants, mainly from China. Hong Kong's population rose

sharply from about 600,000 in August 1945 to some 2.2 million by

the middle of 1950.

10. The priority for a large proportion of these people was that Hong Kong should provide an environment in which they could settle and make a prosperous living, not the development of

representative government. It was not until the mid-1960s that

constitutional change was again considered, but once more

external events intervened. The Cultural Revolution in China, which spilt over into Hong Kong, threatened the stability and even the existence of the territory. It revived in many people the fear that the introduction of party politics on western lines would polarise the community and reproduce in Hong Kong

the rivalries that continued to exist between the Chinese

Communists and Nationalists. Local attitudes were also

influenced by the knowledge that China would be opposed to the

introduction of western-style elections. There was no wish to

provoke China into challenging the status quo.

11.

For all these reasons, there were considerable reservations

within the community as a whole about the idea of election-based

representative government. Instead the Hong Kong Government

sought consensus through an extensive network of consultation

boards and committees (now over 400), which have enabled members of the public to give their advice on all areas of government

dev,rep.gov.BACKBRIEF.JRB

4