OCT 03 '86 16:39 TIBCOOU) HK GOVT
P. 40
According to the Oriental Daily News, an opinion paper on the Daya Bay project by Legco Unofficial Dr Conrad Lam had been given to Chinese officials concerned through one of the Legco delegates, Stephen
Cheong.
Dr Lam stated in the letter that he hoped China would show its concern on the safety aspect of the plant if it decided to go ahead with the project.
The position paper issued by the Legco delegation before their departure for Peking was prominently reported. Some papers, including yesterday's Wah Kiu Man Po, the New Evening Post and today's Ta Kung Pao, Ching Po and Wah Kiu Yat Po, published the full text of the position paper.
Legco Unofficial Wong Fo-yan said the Legco delegation's position paper had already reflected HK people's worries about nuclear safety. He noted that the delegation had already done what ever they could as the decision on whether to build the plant was not a matter for HK.
Commercial Radio-English reported that the anti-nuclear coalition would hold a series of protests next Tuesday to coincide with the signing of the main contracts for the Daya Bay plant.
The group would organise a march to the NCNA to hand in a protest
note and later to Government House.
Both English papers reported the delegation's departure in an inside page lead. While the SCM Post highlighted the councillors' pledge that they would make an all-out effort to persuade China to consider favourably their report, tho Standard chose to highlight Dr Conrad Lam's reaction in its headline "Mission report 'is a whitewash'". Dr Lam told the Standard that the statement hid the fact
that the mission's report was not appreciated by the public.
Sing Tao Wan Pao noted that to the wake of the Chernobyl incident, France had decided to provide funds for beefing up safety measures at nuclear power plants in the country and to defer or shelva nuclear power projects that were on the planning stage. The paper asked whether China had taken into consideration the decisions by France. It reiterated that the Daya Bay project should be shelved.
Sing Pao said while the Legco delegation was in Peking to express the views of HK people, some anti-nuclear activists in HK were still continuing their opposition to the project. Whether the split would affect the solidarity of Legco and the people of HK was a question that could not be ignored.