RESTRICTED
067420
IAN 8574
ACHIEVED, FOR EXAMPLE ON THE LAND COMMISSION AND ON CIVIL SERVICE PENSIONS. IF THE BRITISH ATTEMPTED NOT/NOT TO DISCUSS WITH THE CHINESE ON THE PROBLEMS OF CONVERGENCE, THIS WOULD CREATE A CRISIS FOR THEIR EFFECTIVE AUTHORITY.
5. IT WAS ONLY WHEN THE BRITISH HAD ENCOUNTERED A SERIES OF PROBLEMS WITH BUILDING THE AIRPORT ALONE, THAT THEY HAD SOUGHT CHINESE SUPPORT AND IF THEY FOLLOWED THE ILL-ADVICE
OF CERTAIN PEOPLE AND SHELVED THE AIRPORT PROJECT, THEN THIS WOULD BE A PUBLIC ADMISSION THAT HKG WAS A LAME DUCK GOVERNMENT. HKG'S CREDIBILITY WOULD SUFFER. BUT IF THEY DISCUSSED MATTERS STRADDLING 1997 WITH THE CHINESE THEN TRUST IN HKG WOULD BE INCREASED, HKG'S CREDIBILITY WOULD BE ENHANCED AND THERE WOULD BE CONTINUITY.
6. THERE WERE OTHER SHORT COLUMNS IN WEN WEI PO. ONE SAID THAT HKG WAS SCARED TO FACE THE PUBLIC AND THAT IF THE AIRPORT WERE TO BE SHELVED THEN HKG'S CREDIBILITY WOULD SUFFER: THE SECOND ARGUED
THAT THE HAWKS IN THE GOVERNMENT DID NOT/NOT WANT THE ALLOW THE CHINESE SIDE TO TAKE PART IN DISCUSSIONS RELATING TO THE TRANSITION. THEY THEREFORE WANTED TO DELAY THE AIRPORT PROJECT.
THERE WERE ALSO A NUMBER OF COMMENTS IN THE INDEPENDENT PAPERS. SOME (E.G. HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES, SING TAO WAN PAO) ARGUING THAT THERE WAS NO NEED FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO TAKE A HASTY DECISION TO SHELVE THE AIRPORT. OTHERS (E.G. SING PAO) ARGUING THAT A CLEAR CUT DECISION WAS NEEDED AND THAT NOT/NOT GOING AHEAD WITH THE AIRPORT PROJECT MIGHT NOT/NOT BE A BAD THING BECAUSE IT WOULD REDUCE WORRIES ABOUT INFLATIONARY PRESSURE.
COMMENT
8. THE WEN WEI PO EDITORIAL IS PROBABLY ONLY THE FIRST SIGN OF A SELF-RIGHTEOUS CHINESE COUNTER-BLAST ABOUT QUOTE RUMOURS UNQUOTE BEING SPREAD BY HKG. IT CONTINUES THE LINE OF CONTRASTING THE POLITICAL BENEFITS OF CONSULTATION WITH THE CONFLICT WHICH REFUSAL TO CONSULT WILL BRING ABOUT. WE CAN EXPECT MORE.
WILSON
YYYY