1992-10-19 17:42 INFORMATION SERVICES DEPT
852 521 7735 P.09
ENGLISH MEDIA
REFORMS
Both English dailies noted that Peking might not approve Mr Patten's access to Premier Li Peng during his four-day visit. Quoting a Chinese official in HK, HKS said a meeting with Mr Li would be possible if Mr Patten was willing to change tack, although it would also depend on Mr Li's tight schedule. The official warned that Peking would closely monitor Mr Patten's performance in China, adding that they were optimistic that Mr Patten could be swayed to change his political
reforms.
The Sunday Post quoted SCA Michael Sze as saying that the Governor was leaving room for the possibility of adding other people to the Election Committee. But Mr Sze added that the scope for flexibility was set fall short of Peking's demands.
Six hours of meetings with Lu Ping had so far been scheduled for Mr Patten's Peking visit and DSCA Peter Lai would accompany the Governor in talks with Mr Lu, the Sunday Post noted. The paper also said in a further sign of Mr Lu's growing seniority, he would join a team of Chinese leaders on a visit to Washington next month.
The Post carried remarks by former Basic Law drafter, Xiao Weiyun, in which he warned that China might hold its own Legco elections before 1997 if Britain went ahead with the Patten blueprint on reforms. Mr Xiao said the elections would be held in Shenzhen or Guangzhou, but he fell short of spelling out details of the elections.
HKS noted that the newly appointed Exco member, Chien Kuo-fung, had said both Mr Patten and Chinese officials should deal with HK matters
reasonably. Meanwhile. UDHK's Martin Lee said Mr Patten's reforms were consistent with the spirit of the Basic Law, which endorsed the principles of "democracy and openness" for electoral procedures and set "universial suffrage" as the objective.
POLICY ADDRESS
The Post noted that UDHK's Huang Chen-ya claimed that the newly
established Governor's Business Council was an elitist club where
leading businessmen would consolidate their established interests rather than encourage competition as Mr Patten had wished to achieve.
Legislator Eric Li said the Governor had fully utilised the power of the government machinery and the media to sell his policy speech but had left no room for opposition voices.
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