SEP 05 '86 15:12 TIBCOOL) HK GOVT
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Tuesday, September 2: Acting Senior Legco Unofficial S. L. Chen yesterday issued a brief statement saying that he had received information from the NCNA that the Legco's nuclear fact-finding delegations led by Maria Tam and Allen Lee would be invited to Peking on September 18 to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss their report, the media reported prominently.
Details of the invitation were not immediately known, but Radio-1, the HK Commercial Daily and Sing Pao quoted sources close to the Chinese authorities as aaying that the Legco delegations would be staying in Peking for three to four days before visiting the nuclear plant which was designed and being built by China in Qinshan.
Apart from meeting State Councillor Ji Pengfei, the Legco delegations might be received by Chinese leaders from higher-level.
Sing Tao Jih Pao said that it was learnt that the Legco delegates would meet Chinese Vice-Premier Li Peng.
According to Radio-3, it was likely that Chinese officials would try to assure the Legco delegates that the highest possible safety standards would be adopted at the Daya Bay plant and that most of the suggestions had been considered and acted upon.
Ming Pao quoted a Government spokesman as saying that it would be entirely up to members of the delegations to decide whether to accept the invitation. The spokesman described the invitation as important because it would provide an opportunity for the delegations to explain their report to Chinese officials in person,
Commenting on China's invitation, leader of the Legco team to Europe, Maria Tam, stressed that it was the responsibility of Legco delegates to go to Peking to reflect their views on nuclear energy.
She said that it was difficult to say how many suggestions in the Legco report would be accepted by China, but there should be some results.
Miss Tam reiterated that as far as she knew, the Daya Bay contracts would be signed after September 20.
Legco Unofficial Martin Lee said the visit to Peking should be seriously discussed by the whole of Umelco before making a decision on whether to accept the invitation as the two delegations used public money for the overseas fact-finding missions.
P.29