Constitutional Reforms (21)
Date
Statements by Chinese
Officials
Statements by Government
Officials
News Comments/Editorials
21.11.85
(Xu Jiatun): China did not hope to see "no changes for 50 years, but drastic changes in the next years." It would be unfortunate for China, Britain and HK if the representative system here was not compatible with the Basic Law.
In
some aspects there was a tendency to deviate from the Joint Declaration.
(Wong On-yin of the HK Economic Journal):
HK
should consider adopting the Swiss committee member system rather than the US committee system.
(The HK Economic Journal): The calls for "direct elections" and "return of power to the people" would soon die down now that Peking had implicitely expressed its stand over HK's political reforms and that the NCNA had repeatedly indicated its opposition.
Statements/Comments
by others
22.11.85
(HK Economic Journal): Britain and China should resolve their disputes over political reforms behind close doors rather than making them public.
(Sze Chusian writing in Wen Wei Po): It is absurd to compare local political system to a cancer patient because the existing system was what HK people wanted to preserve.
(Source of HK Economic Journal): China had asked to discuss local political reforms at the Nov 26 JLG meeting, But the British side had formally rejected it last week on the ground that it was a matter for Britain before 1997.
Page 15Page 16
Date
Statements by Chinese
Officials
22.11.85 (Cont'd)