4
Beijing Inclines To Allow Conservatives To Take Power
In the recent two years, political groups have sprung
How-
up one after another. Certain groups have taken a clear stance in
supporting (China's) recovery of the sovereignty over Hong Kong.
ever, they are not included as members of the Basic Law Drafting
Committee. It should have been possible that one seat out of the
quota of twenty-three was given to a representative of these political
groups. However, it turned out not to be the case. It is therefore
understandable that Mr CHEUNG Ka-man, who won the greatest number of
votes in the district board elections, was slightly critical of the
composition of the membership list of the Drafting Committee and
considered that young people and representatives from the grassroot
level were too few. In fact, there seems to be one point in his mind
which has not yet been spoken out, i.e. the middle force representatives,
who stood out the earliest to support China's recovery of the sovereignty and Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong, have not been included in the
membership list.
Representatives of the pro-Taiwan people cannot be
found in the membership list of the Drafting Committee either. Apparently, they are not left out deliberately. Some people still have
worries and therefore are not in a position to accept the invitation
to join the committee. Obviously, the quota for these people is still
unfilled and they would be welcomed to join the Drafting Committee at
any time provided that they have the wishes to contribute to the
prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.
Beijing's inclination can be seen from the membership list of the Drafting Committee. It prefers the conservative bourgeois in Hong Kong to take power in future to rule the place. These people have one characteristic. They are more willing to co-operate with Beijing and are sincere to maintain Hong Kong's prosperity. The most
influential people in economic activities in Hong Kong at present are
included in the membership list of the Drafting Committee. Sir Y.K. PAO
of Kowloon Wharf and Mr LI Ka-shing of Cheung Kong (Holdings) are the