RESTRICTED
3
On safety aspects, while the left-wing press in a number of commentaries maintained that the N-plant would not pose any health hazard, Sing Pao, the Express and the Financial Daily urged the Government to take appropriate measures to ensure that it
would not cause any environmental problem in HK. The talks also prompted the Coalition for the Concern of the Nuclear Power Plant to repeat its call on the Government to make public the findings of a consultancy study on the Guangdong N-plant.
2.
"THE VOICE':
"The Voice", a four-page broadsheet containing selected articles from the Chinese language press about HK's future, was launched by the HK Belongers' Association on 18 March. In a foreword, the Association's editorial committee described the publication as
another avenue to reflect the wishes of HK residents on the 1997 issue and hoped that those views would be respected. The paper is to be published on an irregular basis, but the
association vice-chairman, Mr. Sze Chusian, said in a radio interview that he intended to publish weekly if the response was good. "The Voice" is on sale at all news stands at 80
cents.
An article by the Association on the front page noted that the confidence to invest in HK by both local and overseas people was built on the territory's independent legal system. HK's stability and prosperity would continue only if such a system was maintained. The "HK people to administer HK" proposal put too much emphasis on having people to manage the territory rather than on the rule of law.
The HK Belongers' Association was formed by a group, including Government officials, academics and professionals with an interest in reflecting local residents' wishes on HK's future.
"The Voice" has reprinted a selection of 37 articles which appeared in the Chinese- language Press between November, 1982, and February, 1983; they comprise news reports, commentaries and editorials. Of these, only six came from the left-wing press. The remaining 31 articles were extracted from independent papers, notably the HK Economic Journal (seven items) Ming Pao (seven) and the Express (four). The paper reprinted nothing from any papers known to be sympathetic to, or representative of, the KMT.
The editor has been careful to avoid extreme views and has selected only those articles which contained thoughtful analyses of various propositions put forward by the left-wing press and Chinese sources. Most of the reprinted articles take a cautious approach to the assurances and propositions given by left-wing papers and Chinese spokesmen. The paper itself made no concrete alternative suggestions as to how HK should be managed beyond 1997. However, its own editorial placed strong emphasis on the role played by the legal system in maintaining HK's prosperity and stability; a number of the articles reproduced also touched on this point.
RESTRICTED