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6.
(ii) When Lu Ping met representatives of one of Hong
Kong's pro-China parties on 22 December, he told
them that China did not intend to set up a second
centre of power or shadow government, even if LegCo
passed the Governor's proposals unamended. He also
made a number of other comments which were clearly
designed to sound more conciliatory.
(iii) Against expectations, the meeting of the National People's Congress Standing Committee did not announce any decisions on Hong Kong.
(iv) In an interview with Hong Kong TV on 3 January
Lu Ping ruled out a number of the more extreme
options: the Chinese would stick to the Joint
Declaration whatever the state of Sino-British
relations: there would be no shadow Government; and
contracts and franchises would continue to be
discussed in the Joint Liaison Group. Lu Ping added
that the Chinese were prepared to set up an advisory
body to prepare the post-1997 government and
legislature, but had not yet done so.
Concern
It is not clear what has produced this moderation of the Chinese public line. They may have decided that they have said enough for the moment and are biding their time. They also seem
to have realised that LegCo's consideration of the Governor's
proposals will take some time, and that in the process the proposals may well be amended in directions they favour. not to damage their relations with the Clinton Administration and
anxiety that the steps they had already taken risked damaging
Hong Kong's economic future may also have been factors. should keep this in perspective. The Chinese remain fundamentally opposed to the Governor's proposals on functional constituencies
and the Election Committee as they stand. If his package was to
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But we