CAB129-52 — Page 58

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(THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT)

CONFIDENTIAL

CABINET OFFICE RECORD COPY

C. (52) 165

16th MAY, 1952.

CABINET

COPY NO.

55

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN HONG KONG

Memorandum by the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Constitutional reform in Hong Kong was promised after the war and has been under discussion since 1946. When I visited Hong Kong in December the Governor represented to me that in view of all the prospects which had been held out since that date the fact that there had been no progress towards reform was beginning to lead to agitation; that he would find it increasingly difficult to hold the position for much longer; and that the consequent restiveness in Hong Kong itself would be more embarrassing than any Chinese Communist propaganda which might be provoked by the publication of proposals which the Communists might attempt to deride. While in Hong Kong I was asked to receive a deputation on this matter and I stated that proposals for some constitutional advance were receiving my sympathetic consideration.

2. The present constitutional position is as follows. The Legislative Council consists of not more than nine officials and eight unofficials. Six of the unofficials are appointed by the Governor, three of these being Chinese; one is nominated by the Justices of the Peace and one by the Chamber of Commerce.

3. The main features of the proposals now under consideration are the introduction of an indirect elective system, with the grant of an unofficial majority in the Legislature. (An indirect rather than a direct elective system is because of the difficulty of arranging for a franchise limited to British subjects in the peculiar conditions of Hong Kong. No one who is not a British subject will of course be eligible for appointment to membership of the Council). The Council would then consist of four officials, five unofficials nominated by the Governor and six members elected by the Justices of the Peace, the General Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Urban Council. The Governor would have the usual reserve powers. He is however satisfied that, on any conceivable voting combination of the unofficial members, Government could count on a majority of the Council to carry any measure of real importance.

4.

These proposals were agreed on as long ago as the end of 1950, but were postponed early in 1951, at the request of the Foreign Office, on the grounds that, since they did not provide for a wide Chinese franchise, they might provoke a propaganda campaign at a time when the situation in the Far East was particularly serious, and when it was especially desirable to avoid giving the Central Peoples Government an excuse to raise the question of the retrocession of Hong Kong to China.

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