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044146 MDLIAN 6936
AS SAYING THAT ALTHOUGH THE NEW BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, JOHN MAJOR, WOULD DO EVERYTHING TO UPHOLD THE JOINT PACT TO AVOID CONFRONTATION WITH PEKING TO SAFEGUARD HK'S INTERESTS, THE HK GOVERNMENT HAD DISTANCED ITSELF FROM LONDON AND HAD ADOPTED A MORE OPEN METHOD TO EXPRESS ITS VIEWS, TAK JUNG PAO AND THE ORIENTAL DAILY NEWS (19.12) REPORTED.
7. THE HONORARY CHAIRMAN OF THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE ON HK LAWS, JI PENGFEI, SAID THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO HAVE AN IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING OF HK'S LEGAL SYSTEM IN ORDER TO GIVE EXPRESSION TO VARIOUS PROVISIONS IN THE BL AND TO RECONCILE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE LEGAL SYSTEMS ON THE MAINLAND AND IN HK. THERE WAS AN URGENT NEED FOR MAINLANDERS TO UNDERSTAND HK'S LEGAL SYSTEM. A FORMER MEMBER OF THE BLCC AND AN ADVISER TO THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, KENNETH CHOW, TOLD MING PAO (19.12) THAT EXISTING LAWS MUST CONVERGE WITH THE BL AND THAT SOME OF THE LAWS MUST UNDERGO TECHNICAL CHANGES IN THE TRANSITION PERIOD TO MAKE THEM FALL IN LINE WITH THE JD AND THE BL.
8. A PRINCIPAL LAW LECTURER AT THE CITY POLYTECHNIC, ALLEN HERTZ, SAID THAT FOR MAJOR QUESTIONS AFFECTING HK, THE JD HAD GIVEN CHINA A RIGHT TO BE INFORMED, CONSULTED AND ULTIMATELY TO EXERCISE A VETO.
9. THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION, FOUNDED BY THE PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS SECTOR, SAID THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD CO-ORDINATE ITS VIEWS WITH THE CHINESE ON IMPORTANT MATTERS WHICH STRADDLED 1997 TO ENSURE THE CONTINUITY OF PLANS AND POLICIES FOR HK.
AIRPORT
10. THE TOP LEVEL OF THE HK GOVERNMENT WAS REPORTED BY THE EXPRESS (19.12) TO BE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT LU PING'S CRITICISM THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD TOLD DIFFERENT STORIES TO THE CHINESE AND HK PEOPLE ON THE AIRPORT PROJECT AND HAD SECRETLY INVITED THE HEAD OF THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT OF THE HK BRANCH OF THE NCNA, JI SHAOXIANG, TO A MEETING TO ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE AND TO MAKE THE CHINESE AGREE TO HOLDING THE SECOND ROUND OF MEETINGS ON THE AIRPORT PROJECT BEFORE GOVERNOR SIR DAVID WILSON'S VISIT TO PEKING. THE ORIENTAL DAILY NEWS (19.12), QUOTING SOURCES CLOSE TOT HE CHINESE SIDE, SAID THAT THE CHINESE SIDE WOULD STOP THEIR STRONG CRITICISM OF THE PADS PROJECTS FOR THE TIME BEING TO FOSTER A FAVOURABLE ATMOSPHERE FOR SIR DAVID'S PEKING VISIT.
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