11-MAR-1993 11:26
CAB
t
+ 852 840 1528
P.02
1 translation of questions and answers in Wen Wei Pọ (4.3,93) at a meeting between Lu Ping and a delegation of the Disciplined Services
Consultative Council
Headline:
Lu Ping talks about pay and conditions of civil servants and
other related issues
at a meeting with a delegation of the Disciplined Services
Consultative Council in Peking
(Yeung Fan and Lee Siu-bing report from Peking, March 2)
At a meeting with the delegation of the Disciplined Services Consultative Council, HKMAO Director Lu Ping had answered questions raised by the visitors on areas concerning smooth transfer, civil servants' retirement pensions, the election of HK deputies to the NPC and the work of the ICAC. A detailed summary of the meeting is carried below:
The key question is whether promises will be honoured
Q:
A:
We feel that the progress of the JLG's work is rather slow. We are worried that this may affect our work in the future. We would like to know whether the HKMAO has any solution to this problem.
The JLG is not part of our jurisdiction. It is under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but we give our opinion on certain issues. We agree that the progress of the JLG's work is not fast enough. 1997 is approaching and the JLG should speed up its work. But when you talk of speeding up the work, the question of close discussions between Britain and China arises. A lot of questions concerning smooth transfer have to be discussed and ironed out between the two sides. Appendix II of the JD stipulates that during the latter half of the transition, China and Britain have to step up co-operation in order to ensure a smooth transfer and a stable transition. As many issues straddle 1997, and there is the question of convergence and continuity. We hope that the operation of the HK Government can continue after 1997 without any interruption, and that July 1, 1997 is not considered a line. To attain this goal. China and Britain have to co-operate closely and to discuss how to achieve convergence in all aspects. So the key question is on convergence. With the premise of convergence, we can look into more concrete questions. In other words, if we do not consider the question of convergence or we do not want convergence at all, there is no way to discuss the basic questions. The stand of the Chinese Government is to have real convergence after 1997, because only through this can a smooth transition be realised. The JD is written from the angle of convergence. The theme of the BL is also on convergence and smooth transition. On the legislative body, the BL adopts the "through train" method, i.e, it is not necessary to get off the train on July 1, 1997 and (those on board) can carry on their journey. Except
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