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Xinhua director: The HK Daily News said the Xinhua Director designate,
Mr. Xu Jiatun, was now in Guangzhou meeting people who were familiar with the situation in HK. He was due to arrive here soon to take over from Mr. Wang Kuang.
Earlier, an AFP despatch said that one of the Xinhua deputy directors in HK, Mr. Xie Wenqing, had returned to Beijing to take up the post of acting Minister of Broadcasting and TV in the State Council. He stood in for Mr. Wu Lengxi who is on sick leave. Mr. Xie had worked in HK for three years.
HK group visits Beijing: A 12-member HK group, led by unofficial Legco Councillor, Mr. Allen Lee, left for Beijing on 16 May for a five-day visit. The group included two other Legco councillors, Mrs. Selina Chow and Mr. Stephnen Cheong, as well as architects, lawyers and businessmen. Oriental Daily News quoted Mr. Allen Lee as saying that most of their time in Beijing would be spent at the negotiating table. The group had made a lot of preparations for the visit.
Observers on HK's future: The Hong Kong Observers said they had approached several experienced Legislative Councillors asking them to fill the existing leadership gap in Hong Kong, the HK Economic Journal reported. However, the Councillors declined their request on the grounds that the time was not yet ripe. But the HK Observers felt that in this case the people of HK should have the right to choose their own spokesman. They said that the HK Government should not insist that an elected element should not be introduced into Legco because China was opposed to this principle. In fact, China had all along emphasised that Hong Kong would be self-ruled after 1997. The election system should be the basis for self-rule.
Railway project: Hong Kong Bank and several Japanese banks in Hong Kong have expressed interest in Beijing's plan to raise funds for double-tracking the railway line between Guangzhou and Shenzhen. A Japanese banker said fund-raising would be administered by China-owned banks in Hong Kong.
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