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Chinese Government respected the opinions of HK people. A spokesman for the Federation of HK Industries, Mr. T.W. Wong, said of two former Legco members who were appointed that they were both well-established industrialists who had HK's interests at heart and were heavily committed to HK. Their experience and knowledge of local industry would enable them to represent the territory's best interests to Beijing. The new relationship was not expected to lead to an outflow of capital from HK through heavier investment in China; increased two-way trade between HK and China would bring mutual benefits for both. A spokesman for the HK Observers said that for government-to-government dialogue HK had to rely on the Foreign Office to communicate with Beijing; with the latest appointments there was an additional channel for dialogue and this was "useful". The group regarded it as an encouraging sign that some of the appointees had no specific ties with leftist organisations in HK. Mr. Sze Chusian of the HK Belongers' Association said he thought the Chinese Government was trying hard to get the views and opinions of HK people, but whether these views would be listened to or adopted was another matter. An unnamed leading member of the business community said the significance was not in the appointments themselves, but on how much weight would be attached to the views of the new members. He doubted whether the appointments could really the genuine views of most HK people. One of those appointed, former Legco member, Mr. K.S. Lo, told the SCMP that the Chinese and British Governments should lose no time in hammering out a solution to the 1997 question, if confidence was to be maintained. He said those who were willing to take up the challenge here should stay. On being a former Legco member and now a CPPCC member, Mr. Lo said there was no conflict; the purpose of both posts was to serve the HK people and raise the standard of living here. Mr. T.K. Ann said there was a need for more communication between HK and Beijing; he thought China understood HK better than HK understood China. He said China was aware that it had been out of touch with the outside world for too long because of the cultural revolution; they needed more outside contacts and HK was convenient because there was not much difficulty with language. He believed the inclusion of local people had little to do with 1997 because the committee did not concern HK alone.
In a Beijing despatch, AFP reported that 11 foreigners, who were naturalised Chinese, would sit on the CPPCC. And the SCMP announced that a former staff member, Mr. Israel Epstein, now editor of 'China Reconstructs', was a member of the CPPCC. Mr. Epstein worked for the paper in the 1930s. He was interned at Stanley during the Japanese occupation, escaped and made his way to Free China. He was detained during the cultural revolution and released in the early 1970s when he resumed his work on 'China Reconstructs.'
Meanwhile, the SCMP reported on its front page on 10 May that China's "top leader”, Mr. Deng Xiaoping, would leave the CPPCC when its 6th National Committee met on 3 June; he was not on the list of 2 036 members published by Xinhua on Monday.
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