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16
affected the confidence of the Hong Kong public. He said
that the British side had proposed the formation of a new functional constituency for the civil service and that this would be a fundamental change to the civil service system
and a serious matter which would affect the civil service's
stability and HKG's efficiency (HK press 6 September 1993).
D11.
Lu Ping claimed that giving permission for civil servants to participate in political groups constituted a fundamental change in the civil service system; this was a serious problem and would result in the government being affected by divisions among political groups, causing confusion in the civil service and affecting its stability
and efficiency (HK press 7 September 1993).
D12.
Speaking to a delegation of the Liberal Democratic Federation, Lu Ping said that the Basic Law stipulated that
there should-be no change in the civil service after 1997.
This meant that the civil service system should remain as
it was when the JD was formulated. All "false starts" by
the British side which contravened the Basic Law would be
null and void after 1997. Asked why the Chinese side had
not objected when HKG introduced guidelines concerning participation of civil servants in political parties in 1990, Lu asserted that HKG had then been making changes in
the form of internal guidelines but was now doing so
publicly (HK press 8 September 1993).
PREPARATORY COMMITTEE/PREPARATORY WORK COMMITTEE
El.
Lu Ping said that in the absence of convergence it
would be necessary to set up a "new kitchen". Asked whether a preparatory organ established before 1997 would infringe the provisions of the JD on Britain's
responsibility for governing Hong Kong before then, Lu Ping
said that the Preparatory Committee could not be