1992-10-19 17:40 INFORMATION SERVICES DEPT
892 521 7735 F.07
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Kwan Chiu of Ta Kung Pao today noted that the UDHK were the ones giving strong backing to the referendum idea. Together with Tse Chun in Wen Wei Po, the writer said a referendum was not feasible because HK was not an independent state. Pak Ho-lin in Ta Kung stressed that there were no "grey areas" on the question of sovereignty and it was obvious that Mr Patten's blueprint had run counter to the BL. Echoing this view was lau Yat-vin in Wen Wei Po. Among other Wen Wei columnists, Hoi Tin criticised the Governor for separating Exco and Legco to achieve his goal of dictatorship. Hiu Or said his radical plans would not achieve balance. Shiu Cho agreed that sweeping changes would jeopardise HK's interests. So Sam in the HK Commercial Daily said since Mr Patten was not willing to keep up Sino-British co-operation, China should announce in advance its plans to take over HK without considering whether such plans would converge with established British policies in the territory.
In the indepedent press, Ming Pao said China's policy towards HK had always been "to preseve the status quo and to make use of the territory as much as possible". The "one country, two systems" and "HK people run HK" concepts were the means to preserve the status quo rather than an end in themselves. The paper also pointed out that the gist of the JD was that China would take back HK in 1997 and that Britain had agreed to hand the territory over to China. All other provisions spelling out China's policy towards HK were internal affairs for China. China had incorporated them into an international treaty ratified by the UN because it wanted to put people's hearts at ease. Even without these self-imposed restraints aimed at maintaing HK's prosperity and stability, Britain could not avoid handing back HK to China. The paper added that the BL was part of Chinese law, not the law of HK.
On the Governors Peking trip, Sing Pao hoped the two sides would hold sincere negotiations in the interests of HK people and of both nations.
press / The paper believed the pro-China/would cease to attack Mr Patten in
order to create a cooling-off period for both sides prior to the meeting between the Governor and Lu Ping.
Sing Pao yesterday said although the Chinese side could not point out exactly where the Governor's policy address had violated the BL, there was reason in its argument that the constitutional package would not be conducive to a smooth transfer and would cause convergence problems. The paper felt that the BL should be widely promoted so that residents could understand the mini- constitution better. Only then could Mr Patten's five-year plan free itself from a big controversy.