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agreement was to be reached in the time available.
16.
HK Today (24.11) quoted Chinese sources as saying the Chinese side would reinstate the appointed system after 1997 should the British side abolish the appointed seats for DBs and the two municipal councils. The Chinese side opposed a single seat, single vote system for the LegCo election but had no objection for the system to be adopted in the DB and the municipal council elections.
17.
Speaking at a public function in Peking (24.11) Chen Ziying said the Chinese side had made significant concessions in the talks. Reports noted Chen declined to say why the Chinese side opposed the single seat, single vote system for LegCo. Chen said the DB/Municipal Council elections should be resolved first before discussing the 1995 LegCo elections.
18. The papers noted in prominent coverage (25.11) HKMAO deputy director Wang Qiren told a delegation of HK businessmen in Peking that instead of 'settling the easier issues first' the British side had used the difficult issues to block the solving of easier issues.
19. Zhang Junsheng was quoted (25.11) as saying the British side distorted the meaning of 'settling the easier issues first' and posed obstacles to reaching an initial agreement. Therefore the 16th round did not achieve the expected results.
20. A bylined CNA despatch (26.11) said the British side had twisted the meaning of 'settling the easier issues first' principle and insisted the three-tier elections could not be separated. At the same time, they raised again the through train. This indicated the British side was trying to reach for a yard after an inch'. That was why the talks had not made the expected progress.
Localisation
21. The HK Economic Journal (19.11) quoted a Chinese official as criticising the approval of two applications from overseas officers for transfer to local terms as making a 'false start', and warned that such changes would be invalid after 1997.
APEC Meeting 22. Some papers (22.11) quoted Jiang Zemin as saying in Seattle that the Taiwan question and the HK question were not the same. was a historical problem and China would regain sovereignty in
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