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On the political front, Mr Ashdown (whom the Governor
briefed during his recent visit to Hong Kong) described the
speech as "imaginative, forward-looking and robust". He
expressed some doubts about separation of ExCo and LegCo,
but accepted that the new Government-LegCo Committee could
be a workable alternative to liberal representation on
ExCo. The only comment we have seen from the Labour Party
was from their spokesman on Hong Kong, Mr Allan Rogers, who
gave the speech a qualified welcome, commenting that it
should have gone further on democracy.
Their
Chinese spokesmen have been slow off the mark. only response on the day of the speech was a low-level
comment from the New China News Agency in Hong Kong
describing it as "irresponsible and reckless". Since then,
there have been statements from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs on 8 October and the Hong Kong and Macau Office of
the State Council on 9 October, both replayed in the
pro-China press in Hong Kong. These suggest an uncertain
reaction. The main criticisms are that:
the Governor has announced large changes without
consulting the Chinese in breach of the terms and spirit of
the Joint Declaration.
this can only put obstacles in the way of smooth
transition.
- there will be chaos if changes are introduced which do
not "converge with" the Basic Law.
- when the time comes, the Special Administrative Region
Government will be established according to the Basic Law.
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