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The same paper on February 27 reporting on the Fifth National People's Congress said that unity was one of the main themes stressed by Chairman Hua Kuo-feng in his work report to the Congress.
The paper quoted Chairman Hua as stressing the importance of developing a "revolutionary united front led by the working class, based on the worker-peasant alliance and unity and uniting the large number of intellectuals and other labouring people, patriotic democratic parties, patriotic personages, our compatriots in and from Taiwan, Hongkong and Macau, and our countrymen residing abroad".
The paper also reported that seventeen prominent Hongkong and Macau left-wing figures had been elected as members of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference and that four of them were elected to the Presidium.
The paper listed the four as being the publisher of Ta Kung Pao, Fei Yi-ming; Chairman of the Macau Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Ho Yin; a vice-chairman of the Macau Chamber, Ma Man-kei, and former Chairman of the Hongkong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Ko Cheuk-hung.
The same paper, picking up Chinese-language paper reports on March 1, said that sixteen local people had been elected as deputies for Kwangtung province at the Fifth National People's Congress in Peking.
The paper noted that “Altogether, 16 of the Kwangtung's 161 deputies are residents of Hongkong. They include businessmen, unionists, a doctor, a headmaster and a farmer" and gave a list of the personalities.
II. MATTERS RELATING TO CHINA AND HONG KONG
Hong Kong's Status Quo
The SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (December 19) carried a report on an impromtu press conference given by Mr. Chang Cheng, the head of the China Products Company and Assistant General Manager of the China Resources Company at the opening of the new China Products emporium in Causeway Bay.
The paper quoted Mr. Chang as saying China was not anxious to alter the status quo of Hong Kong, and also was not anxious to discuss the problem now.
He pointed out that Hong Kong was a problem left over from history and it required a long period to deal with the problem. While it was still too early to say how long this would take much depended on the situation in Southeast Asia and in the world.
He said, "As it stands, Hongkong is of interest to both China and Britain and both sides need a long period of consideration to decide what is to be done” and “both sides are concerned that neither Soviet-revisionism nor Chiang Kai-shek's clique can come and destroy conditions in Hongkong."
Because 98 per cent of the population in Hong Kong was Chinese, Mr. Chang said, "we are concerned with the livelihood of our compatriots and will do our best to ensure an adequate supply of goods to Hongkong, especially food products.”
He further pointed out that the Hong Kong market had "an intimate relationship" with stability inside China hence, political stability in China ensured rural and industrial development and a plentiful supply of goods to Hong Kong.
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