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10.
LOCAL GROUPS TO GO TO BEIJING:
The Oriental Daily News said the Reform Club would send a delegation to Beijing in May to reflect HK people's wishes on the 1997 issue. A Reform Club spokesman said details of the visit had not yet been finalised. Meanwhile, Wen Wei Po reported that a CMA team would visit China towards the end of May at the invitation of the All-China Federation of Commerce and Industry to promote trade ties.
The HK Economic Journal's report last week about the forthcoming visit to Beijing by a group of local academics in April and another group headed by three unofficial Legco members in May was picked up by HK Daily News and Oriental Daily News. In its report, the OD said some of the Polytechnic and University lecturers were bewildered by the invitations extended to them because they had not yet worked out how the HK Government would react if they expressed their viewpoints on the 1997 issue to the Chinese authorities.
11.
PRESS LINES:
During the week, coverage in the left-wing press was dominated by the Guangdong power plant talks, as a result there were fewer commentaries and editorials on HK's future.
Early in the week, a Wen Wei Po commentator said the recent comments on HK's future by the Taiwan press and HK Times aimed at undermining the territory's economy and at triggering a drain of funds and talents from HK. Taiwan would only isolate itself if it continued to undermine HK's stability and prosperity.
The independent HK Economic Journal agreed that news and commentaries originating from Taiwan and pro-KMT papers must be handled very cautiously because the Taipei Government would stand to benefit from an unstable HK. In a leader, the paper said Taiwan was trying to woo investment from HK in an organised manner because the flight of capital from the territory would deal a blow to China's economy. A HK Times commentator said the Economic Journal was trying to butter up China and the tone of the leader reflected that the paper was apprehensive of communism.
Later in the week the right-wing Kung Sheung Daily News joined in the squabble by saying that the fierce attack launched by the left-wing press on the petition at Government House showed that the supporters of China wanted to impose their will in HK. The strong criticism also indicated that the Sino-British talks were in the doldrums.
Commenting on the announcements of the $750 m Kai Tak airport expansion plan and the $900 m. development programme in Tuen Mun, the New Evening Post said. they were designed to remove the jittery feelings brought about by the Government's decision not to build the replacement airport. The Government should strive to complete its original development programme when the economy had shown signs of recovery, the paper added.
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