| The Right Honourable The Lord Wilson of Tillyorn KT GCMG PRSE |
|
|---|---|
| Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2010 |
|
| Preceded by | George Reid |
| President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Sir Michael Atiyah |
| Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge | |
| In office 2002–2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Sir John Meurig Thomas |
| Succeeded by | Adrian Dixon |
| 27th Governor of Hong Kong | |
| In office 9 April 1987 – 9 July 1992 |
|
| Preceded by | Sir Edward Youde |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Patten of Barnes |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 February 1935 Scotland |
| Spouse(s) | Natasha Helen Mary |
| Alma mater | Keble College, Oxford, University of London, University of Hong Kong |
| Profession | colonial administrator, diplomat, sinologist |
David Clive Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn, KT, GCMG, PRSE (born 14 February 1935) is a retired British administrator, diplomat and Sinologist. Lord Wilson of Tillyorn was the penultimate Commander-in-Chief and 27th Governor of Hong Kong (from 1987 to 1992). He served as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the British Monarch's representative to the Assembly, in 2010 and 2011.
Contents |
Wilson was born in Scotland and was educated at Glenalmond and Keble College, Oxford (1955–58, Master of Arts), and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (Ph.D. in contemporary Chinese history, obtained in 1973). He studied Chinese at the University of Hong Kong from 1960 to 1962 and then served in the British Mission in Beijing. He was fluent in Mandarin and spent 10 of his 30 years as a diplomat in China.
In 1968 Wilson resigned from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to edit The China Quarterly at the School of Oriental and African Studies. After rejoining the Diplomatic Service in 1974 he worked in the Cabinet Office and then, from 1977 to 1981, as Political Adviser to Sir Murray MacLehose, then Governor of Hong Kong. Following that he became Head of Southern European Department in the FCO and then Assistant Under Secretary for Asia and the Pacific during which time he was Head of the British side of the Working Group engaged in drafting the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong and then, in 1984, the first Senior British Representative on the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group (中英聯合聯絡小組) set up under the Joint Declaration. When Sir Edward Youde passed away in Beijing on 5 December 1986, Wilson replaced him to become the Governor of Hong Kong in 1987.
When Wilson studied Mandarin at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, he was given the Chinese name Wèi Déwéi (Chinese: 魏德巍; Jyutping: Ngai6 Dak1-ngai4); "Wei" was short for "Wilson", while "Dewei" is a common Chinese transliteration of David. However, when he arrived in Hong Kong to take up the position of colonial governor, it was noted that the Cantonese pronunciation of his earlier name sounded almost nothing like his actual name, and too much like "hypocrisy to the extent of dangerousness" (偽得危). There was also concern about the surname and the third character, each of which are formed from components meaning which "1,800 female ghosts" (千八女鬼); some local media reports referred to the name as "two ghosts knocking at the door" (雙鬼拍門). As such, he then changed his name to Wei Yixin (Chinese: 衛奕信; Jyutping: Wai6 Jik6-seon3), which in addition to having a more favourable meaning, was composed of 33 strokes, said to be a lucky number.[1][2]
As Governor, Wilson had to deal with the fallout in Hong Kong from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. He also encountered the Vietnamese refugee problem, which steadily grew worse and led to the 1988 policy of repatriating those found not to qualify for refugee status (see bắt đầu từ nay). In October 1989, Wilson proposed, in the Governor's Annual Policy Address, the building of an airport on Lantau Island, known as the Rose Garden Project (玫瑰園計劃 see Hong Kong International Airport). The proposal was created out of concern that the then-current airport at Kai Tak, which had been in use since the beginning of Aviation in Hong Kong, was not equipped to handle modern aviation needs.
Wilson left Hong Kong in June 1992 following the completion of his five year term as Governor. Before his retirement Wilson embarked on political reforms that paved the way for eighteen legislators of the Legislative Council to be directly elected by the people of Hong Kong.
After his governorship and the elevation to a life peerage with the title Baron Wilson of Tillyorn,[3] of Finzean in the District of Kincardine and Deeside and of Fanling in Hong Kong in 1991, Wilson became the Chairman of the energy company Scottish Hydro Electric plc. (later Scottish and Southern Energy) based in Perth, Scotland from 1993 - 2000. He was a member of the Board of the British Council (and Chairman of its Scottish Committee) from 1993–2002; a Director of the Martin Currie Pacific Trust from 1993–2002 and Chairman of the Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland from 2002-06. In 1996 he was appointed a Vice-President of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society; and he has been Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen since 1997. He was President of the Bhutan Society of the UK (1993–2008), the Hong Kong Society (1994- ) and the Hong Kong Association (1994- ). Wilson was made a Knight of the Thistle in 2000. He served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge from 2002 to 2008. Since October 2008 he has been President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh; Sir John Arbuthnott has been elected as his successor[4]. In January 2010 he was appointed Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for 2010.
The 78-kilometre Wilson Trail, containing ten hiking segments aligned north-south in Hong Kong, is named after him, as is the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust (衛奕信勳爵文物信託) based in Wanchai, established in December 1992 to preserve Hong Kong's historical culture.
Wilson has been married to Natasha Helen Mary since 1967. They have two sons, Peter (a diplomat) and Andrew (a Church of England clergyman).
Wilson was criticised by the pro-democracy camp for not moving more quickly towards a fully elected Legislature based on universal suffrage and for paying too much attention to the views of the Government in China in agreeing arrangements for a process of increasing the number of fully elected seats up to and beyond the transfer of sovereignty in 1997.
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Edward Youde |
President of the Legislative Council 1987 – 1992 |
Succeeded by Chris Patten later became Lord Patten of Barnes |
| Governor of Hong Kong 1987 – 1992 |
||
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Sir Kenneth Alexander |
Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen 1997 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Sir John Meurig Thomas |
Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge 2002 – 2008 |
Succeeded by Adrian Dixon |
| Preceded by Sir Michael Atiyah |
President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 2008 – October 2011 |
Succeeded by Sir John Arbuthnott |
|
|
|||||||