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ExCo approved this in July 1989.
Subsequent research into how to handle staffing in the new corporation resulted in the proposal put to ExCo for RTHK to be disestablished at the same time as corporatized. The change should promote efficiency, increase flexibility and save money.
4. Throughout this process the future of RTHK and its possible corporatization have been widely discussed in the Hong Kong media. The Chinese will therefore be aware of the
issue. However, we have not briefed or consulted them, either formally or informally.
5. As ExCo recognise, we have little option but to consult
the Chinese on this issue. We undertook at JLG XI in 1988 to brief them on all major policy initiatives and important matters straddling 1997. The corporatization of RTHK clearly falls within the scope of this undertaking. Mr Galsworthy has suggested that in the first instance he should brief his Chinese counter-part informally on the proposals asking if he would like a fuller briefing.
However, as HKG accept, the Chinese will almost certainly demand formal consultations in the JLG, a demand it would be difficult to refuse.
6.
The Chinese will not be easily persuaded of the need for
change now in this sensitive area. They may initially delay
substantive consideration of the issue with technical
questions, but their eventual response may well be negative. The Chinese are likely to regard RTHK as a propaganda tool which the SARG should inherit (in practice of course it has had editorial freedom for many years). Arguments of economic efficiency are likely to cut little ice. The Chinese may therefore see the corporatization of RTHK as a plan to deprive the SARG of a propaganda facility, and ultimately to keep it out of Chinese hands (in fact, of course, this is not too far from the truth). Some may even
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