Page 193
:
their conflant93 if 20Be fundamental songados off2their institutions; and the incidence of drug addiction and rising crime does not seem to have caused them to reassess their views. Absence of parliamentary restraints or political challenge seems to have bred a certain complacency of outlook and no answer at present lies with the development of truly representative institutions. And, it must be added, that the decline of British prestige and the accumulation of our problems which are given wide publicity in the English language press which is excessively dependent on the British media, has created a widespread feeling that Her Majesty's Government is not particularly well qualified to advance ideas for the administration of Hong Kong. There are many, of course, who do not fit into this category: but anti- Whitehall and anti-British feelings generally are sufficiently widespread among officials and unofficials alike for them to be readily apparent to visitors to the Colony. This is already corrosive of the link with Britain which is essential for the existence of
Hong Kong; and indeed for the realisation of the general strategy outlined in this paper.
50. A policy of directly legislating for the changes we consider necessary in the discharge of the Secretary of State's constitutional responsibility to Parliament will also, in our view, create more problems that it will solve. The wide and increasing self- government the Colony has enjoyed in recent years has been a gradual and inevitable process, given the self- sustaining nature of the economy and its increasing sophistication, the development of substantial interests of its own, and the size and overwhelmingly Chinese character of its population. Even our existing policy of active encouragement of the Governor's policies and promoting ideas which commend themselves to Ministers as a result of normal political processes here, have produced no ideal relationship with Hong Kong: rather a loss of trust and a failure to comprehend the multi-dimensional nature of the
29
Page 193SECRET
/problem. Page 193 of 203
7386 D073815 140M 5/74 Cr.P.C. Gp.839/3
TOP SECRET
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.