decided, with the advice of the Executive Council, to postpone
our original plan for gazettal on 12 February, while making
clear to the Chinese side that there could not be an
indefinite delay, given the practical need to press ahead with legislation. We proposed an early starting date for the talks and told the Chinese side of the composition of our
negotiating team.
5.
In the absence of a Chinese response, I decided, with the
advice of ExCo, to delay gazettal for a second time on 19
February and a third time on 26 February. We wished to give
every possible opportunity for the Chinese side to respond.
In my judgement, Honourable Members and the community would
expect us to go the extra mile in an effort to secure
productive talks with the Chinese Government.
6. Despite continuous diplomatic contacts, in which we have
continued to press for early talks, we have not yet been able
to announce a starting date for talks. I have made plain that
we are ready for the talks to proceed on the basis of the
Joint Declaration, the Basic Law and the exchange of
correspondence between the two Foreign Ministers: and that I
consider my proposals are wholly compatible with these as,
for example, I made clear when I addressed the Legislative
Council on 24 October.
7. I thought it only fair to give Honourable Members an
account of where we now stand. As far as we are concerned we
are ready to talk immediately. Following further exchanges in
Peking this week, there remain only a few points of detail
raised by the Chinese side which could and should be resolved
quickly.
In the meantime, we judge it best to defer gazettal for a fourth time today.
8.
BRIEFS/Legro statement 33