CONFIDENTIAL
075173
MDHIAN 8364
11. PRESS COMMENTARIES IN THE CHINESE LANGUAGE PAPERS, HOWEVER, SUGGESTED THAT HK PEOPLE SHOULD NOT PIN MUCH HOPE ON THE FAC HEARINGS. BRITAIN'S POLICY ON HK WAS UNLIKELY TO CHANGE, AND THE HK QUESTION WAS NOT AN IMPORTANT ITEM ON BRITAIN'S POLITICAL AGENDA. THE HK DAILY NEWS EXPRESSED GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE FAC HEARINGS AND SAID IT FAILED TO SEE WHAT POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION THEY HAD MADE TO THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS TO HK'S MANY PROBLEMS. IT SAID HK PEOPLE WERE PARTICULARLY DISAPPOINTED OVER BRITAIN'S STAND ON THE NATIONALITY QUESTION, THE VR PROBLEM AND THE BL.
DISTRICT FEEDBACK
12. THERE HAS BEEN, AS YET, LITTLE FEEDBACK FROM THE DISTRICTS AT THE GRASSROOT LEVEL. INITIAL INDICATIONS ARE THAT FOR MOST OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC, THE HEARINGS IN LONDON WERE A REMOTE EVENT. VIEWS ARE LED BY THE MEDIA. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE PUBLIC WILL PAY CLOSER ATTENTION
WHEN THE FAC COMES TO HK.
CHINESE REACTION
13. NCNA HK DIRECTOR XU JIATUN WAS REPORTED TO HAVE SAID THAT IT WOULD NOT BE AN INTERVENTION IN CHINA'S INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION FOR THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT TO DISCUSS THE BL AS IT REFLECTED CONCERN FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE JD. VICE DIRECTOR ZHENG HUA WAS HOWEVER REPORTED TO HAVE SAID THAT ANYTHING WITH A CRUCIAL BEARING ON POST- 1997 HK SHOULD BE EXAMINED BY THE TWO GOVERNMENTS THROUGH DIPLOMATIC CHANNELS. HE SAID THERE WERE VARIOUS CHANNELS INCLUDING THE JLG, AND ADDED THERE WERE SUFFICIENT HUMAN RIGHTS SAFEGUARDS IN THE BL. LI HOU WAS REPORTED TO HAVE SAID THAT ANY BILL OF RIGHTS SHOULD BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE JD.
WILSON
YYYY
ΜΑΙΝ
.HK AGREEMENT
LIMITED
HKD
HD/FED
HD/PLANNERS
58
DISTRIBUTION
69
PAGE
PS
PS/LORD GLENARTHUR
PS/MR EGGAR
PS/PUS
MR GILLMORE
3
CONFIDENTIAL
: