2
He of course denied it. I said: "My greatest concern is whether the
Party is greater or the law is greater. You say that the law is greater.
This is a breakthrough for the Chinese communists. (Of course whether
it can be realized remains to be seen.) Secondly, during the first
meeting of the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee in Beijing,
you yourself expressly said that Hongkong people can go against the
'four perseverances'. (This, of course, is also a question of whether
it can be realized in future.)
I asked Mr Wang if he studied law. He said, "No, I studied
When I asked him where he studied, he replied, "South
Western United".
history".
i
On the question of the Basic Law, he was convinced that a Basic Law satisfactory to all sectors in Hong Kong would be enacted. There were some candidmoments in the conversation. Having learned from the conversation that he had been fixed during the "Cultural Revolution", I asked him what he did before then. He replied
immediately, "I fixed people". It turned out that he was deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee before the "Cultural Revolution". It reminded me of Peng Zhen's preposterous
suggestion of ferreting out rightists from each unit on a five percent basis during the anti-rightist campaign in 1957. Wang Hanbin was serving under Peng Zhen then.
The
I said to him: "Peng Zhen is really a strange man. He had
Just to see him suffered so much during the "Cultural Revolution". 'riding the aeroplane' (a kind of corporal punishment) when purged by the Red Guards is more than enough. Why is he still so conservative now?" Mr Wang retorted, "That is only what the newspapers in Hong Kong say. It may not be true. "I said, "There must be some truth in it! people's eyes are discerning; they know who is enlightened and who is
You had better give him some advice. He is advanced conservative. in age (83) and should bear the interests of the entire natio in mind. "Mr Wang replied, "Chairman Peng Zhen had said in Japan: 'To develop socialist democracy and a sound socialist legal system is a basic task facing our country!"
Are Hong Kong's