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IS SHORT OF LEADERSHIP, HOWEVER CONTROVERSIAL IT PROVES UNQUOTE. THE STANDARD SAID THAT IT WAS A 'CARING AND DARING' SPEECH. MR. PATTEN HAD FOUND A WAY THROUGH A SEEMINGLY IMPASSABLE POLITICAL PATH, A NEW ROAD THAT COULD AND SHOULD LEAD TO ALL PARTIES BEING ENTIRELY SATISFIED.
5. AMONG THE MAINSTREAM CHINESE PAPERS, THE MASS-CIRCULATION ORIENTAL DAILY NEWS SAID ALTHOUGH THE ADDRESS WAS RICH IN CONTENT, IT HAD NOT PROVIDED HONG KONG PEOPLE WITH A CLEAR PICTURE OF THEIR FUTURE. THE PAPER WAS WORRIED THAT THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSALS WOULD SOW THE SEEDS FOR FUTURE SINO-
BRITISH-HONG KONG DISPUTES BECAUSE MR.PATTEN HAD CHOSEN TO PUBLICISE HIS INTENTIONS BEFORE DISCUSSING THEM WITH THE CHINESE. THE PAPER CONCLUDED THAT MR.PATTEN'S HONEYMOON PERIOD WAS NOT
OVER.
6.
THE HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL PRAISED THE ADDRESS FOR IT S INNOVATIVE IDEAS AND SUPPORTED THE PROPOSALS TO IMPROVE SOCIAL SERVICES. WHILE WELCOMING THE CONSTITUTIONAL PACKAGE AS A TACTFUL MOVE TO GIVE GREATER PUBLIC PARTICIPATION WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE BASIC LAW, THE PAPER POINTED OUT THAT THE PACKAGE WOULD JUST BE QUOTE PAPER CASTLES UNQUOTE WITHOUT CHINA:S BLESSING.
7.
SING PAO TOOK A SIMILAR LINE, SAYING THAT THE GOVERNOR'S GENEROUS PROPOSALS TO IMPROVE SOCIAL SERVICES WOULD BE WELCOMED BY THE PUBLIC. BUT IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE CHINESE LAUNCHED AN OFFENSIVE AGAINST HIS CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSALS.
8 =
SING TAO DAILY SAID THAT THE GOVERNOR'S DRASTIC CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSALS REFLECTED A CHANGE IN BRITISH STRATEGY IN HONG KONG FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. GONE WAS THE OLD BRITISH APPEASEMENT POLICY TOWARDS CHINA. WARS OF WORDS WOULD COME AT ANY TIME. REACHING A CONSENSUS ON THE AIRPORT FINANCING QUESTION SEEMED TO BE MORE DIFFICULT. THE PAPER URGED THE TWO SIDES TO EXERCISE RESTRAINT IN ORDER TO NARROW THEIR DIFFERENCES.
9.
THE LEFT-WING PAPERS WERE CRITICAL OF THE ADDRESS, PARTICULARLY THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSALS. TA KUNG PAO'S LEADER ON 8 OCTOBER WAS ENTITLED QUOTE THE SUN SETS ON THE ROSE GARDEN UNQUOTE. THE PAPER REGRETTED THAT THE GOVERNOR HAD NOT CONSULTED CHINA BEFORE ANNOUNCING THE POLITICAL BLUEPRINT. HE SHOULD HAVE REALISED THAT IMPORTANT POLICIES IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS OF THE TRANSITION SHOULD BE REALISTIC AND SHOULD SECURE CHINA'S SUPPORT.
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