UNCLASSIFIED
157767
MDLIAN 2089
HUMANITIES AT THE OPEN LEARNING INSTITUTE, JOSEPH CHENG, AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR LO CHI-KIN BELIEVED THAT MR MAJOR WOULD FOLLOW MRS THATCHER'S POLICIES VERY CLOSELY. CHAN MING-KAU OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY BELIEVED THAT MR MAJOR WOULD TAKE A LESS
STERN POLITICAL STANCE THAN THAT OF MRS THATCHER. A SPOKESMAN FOR THE CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY, LI ZHAOXING, SAID THAT CHINA HOPED THAT DURING MR MAJOR'S TERM, SINO-BRITISH RELATIONS WOULD BE FURTHER IMPROVED AND STRENGTHENED ON THE EXISTING BASIS. THE DIRECTOR OF THE NCNA LOCAL BRANCH, ZHOU NAN, SAID THAT THE CHANGE IN BRITISH PREMIERSHIP WOULD NOT CHANGE SINO-BRITISH RELATIONS AS
THE TWO COUNTRIES WERE ALREADY MOVING AHEAD IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. THE VISITING HK AND MACAU AFFAIRS OFFICE DELEGATION LEADER, CHEN ZUO'ER, SAID THAT SINCE MR MAJOR HAD BEEN FOREIGN SECRETARY, HE SHOULD HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF SINO-BRITISH RELATIONS AND HK AFFAIRS
4. THE MEDIA NOTED THAT SIR DAVID WILSON AND AN OMELCO DELEGATION
LED BY SENIOR EXCO MEMBER BARONESS DUNN WOULD MEET MR MAJOR ON DECEMBER 6. SIR DAVID WOULD ALSO BE SEEING DOUGLAS HURD, LORD CAITHNESS, AND SIR PERCY CRADOCK.
COURT OF FINAL APPEAL
5. RADIO 3 REPORTED IT WAS LIKELY THAT THE COURT OF FINAL APPEAL WOULD BE SET UP BY 1993 WHILE THE SCM POST SAID THAT THE EXPERTS WERE CONFIDENT OF CLEARING THE FINAL HURDLE BY 1992 TO HAVE THE COURT SET UP IN 18 MONTHS. THE HK ECONOMIC TIMES, QUOTING SOURCES, SAID THAT THE SHORTAGE OF MANPOWER WAS ONE OF THE PROBLEMS AND THAT THE EXPERT GROUP WOULD CONSIDER A NEW SYSTEM UNDER WHICH JUDGES COULD HOLD MORE THAN ONE POST CONCURRENTLY AND
THE AGE LIMIT FOR RETIREMENT COULD BE RELAXED.
GENERAL REMARKS
6. SIR DAVID WILSON SAID THAT THERE WAS A REAL NEED TO KEEP IN CONTACT WITH THE CHINESE LEADERS FOR THE SAKE OF HK AND FOR THE SAKE OF MAKING THE RIGHT SORT OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE FUTURE.
7. SIR DAVID FORD SAID THAT CONTINUITY WAS AN INTEGRAL PART OF GOOD GOVERNMENT, BUT THAT THE PROCESS DEPENDED FOR ITS SUCCESS ON CONTINUITY OF PEOPLE, THE MEDIA (28.11) REPORTED. THE PEOPLE WHO WERE MAKING MOST OF THE LONG-TERM DECISIONS WERE HIS COLLEAGUES
IN THE GOVERNMENT WHO WOULD FORM THE CORE OF THE FUTURE SAR GOVERNMENT IN 1997 AND BEYOND, AND THAT IT WAS THE GOVERNMENT'S CLEAR INTENTION THAT AHEAD OF 1997, TOP POSTS IN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT WOULD BE FILLED BY PEOPLE WHO MET THE REQUIREMENTS OF
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