UNCLASSIFIED
025463
MDLIAN 5094
'THREE VIOLATIONS' AND HIS UNILATERAL INSISTENCE ON NON- CONVERGENCE WITH THE BL AND CONFRONTATIONAL STANCE AGAINST CHINA. HOWEVER, SUCH CONCERNS HAD NOT SWAYED CONFIDENCE AND THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WOULD SEE THE 'CHINA FACTOR' AS HAVING POSITIVE AND STRONG EFFECTS ON HK. AN ARTICLE IN THE LATEST ISSUE OF BAUHINIA MAGAZINE (2.1), URGED HK PEOPLE TO THROW AWAY THEIR UNREALISTIC THOUGHTS AND NOT TO RISK THEIR OWN FUTURE ON THE GOVERNOR'S GAMBLING GAME. THEY SHOULD ALSO BE PREPARED FOR NON-CONVERGENCE. THE ARTICLE REITERATED THE HK ISSUE BEFORE 1997 WAS A BILATERAL ISSUE BETWEEN BRITAIN AND CHINA AND AFTER 1997, A DOMESTIC ISSUE OF CHINA.
6. THE MEDIA GAVE PROMINENT COVERAGE (4.1) TO LU PING'S INTERVIEW WITH TVB. MR LU SAID THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR A SEPARATE 'STOVE' IF THE GOVERNOR WITHDREW HIS CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSALS. EVEN IF SUCH A 'STOVE' WAS SET UP, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SAR PREPARATORY COMMITTEE WOULD NOT BE BROUGHT FORWARD. THE CHINESE SIDE, HOWEVER, WERE CONSIDERING SETTING UP AN ADVISORY BODY TO CONSULT HK PEOPLE ON ALL TRANSITION RELATED MATTERS. IT WOULD NOT BE A SECOND POWER CENTRE IN HK AND NO DECISIONS WERE MADE ON ITS COMPOSITION. AS REGARDS CONTRACTS AND FRANCHISES STRADDLING 1997, THESE WOULD HAVE TO BE DISCUSSED IN THE JLG. MR LU SAID THE CHINESE SIDE WOULD ADOPT A POSITIVE AND RESPONSIBLE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THESE CONTRACTS, INCLUDING THOSE ON CT9 AND PAY TV. AS FOR OTHER ROUTINE CONTRACTS, THE CHINESE SIDE INTENDED TO MAKE A BLANKET STATEMENT TO ENSURE THEIR CONTINUED VALIDITY AFTER 1997. QUOTING FROM A TRANSCRIPT OF A MEETING BETWEEN QIAN QICHEN AND DAB, MR LU CLARIFIED THAT MR QIAN HAD MERELY SAID UNDER THE AIRPORT MOU, THE NEXT HALF YEARLY MEETING OF THE TWO FOREIGN MINISTERS WOULD BE IN MARCH. MR QIAN ADDED THAT WHETHER THERE WOULD BE SUCH A MEETING WOULD DEPEND ON THE ATTITUDE OF THE BRITISH SIDE. MR LU DESCRIBED THE RELATIONS BETWEEN BRITAIN AND CHINA AS 'NOT GOOD' AND HE DID NOT SEE ANY SIGN OF IMPROVEMENT. MR LU REITERATED THE SAFEGUARDS FOR CIVIL SERVANTS UNDER THE JD AND BL. HE ALSO SAID THE CHINESE WOULD NOT DRAW A LINE BETWEEN THOSE IN HK WHO SUPPORTED THE GOVERNOR'S CONSTITUTIONAL PACKAGE AND THOSE WHO DID NOT. MR LU MAINTAINED THE MAJORITY OF HK PEOPLE WERE PATRIOTIC. HK WAS NOT AN INDEPENDENT POLITICAL ENTITY AND HE BELIEVED IT COULD HARDLY SURVIVE IF IT CONFRONTED CHINA.
7. VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE CPPCC, YE XUANPING, WAS QUOTED AS SAYING THAT HE BELIEVED THE CURRENT DISPUTE BETWEEN CHINA AND BRITAIN WAS TEMPORARY AND WOULD BE RESOLVED IN DUE COURSE.
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