32
}
body that takes decisions on foreign affairs matters. Its current
composition includes among others Premier Li Peng, General
Secretary of the Party, Jiang Zemin, the State President, Yang
Shangkun, Standing Politburo member and the most senior military
leader Liu Huaqing, the current Foreign Minister Qian Qichen
and two former Foreign Ministers Wu Xuequan and Ji Pengfei. Since
Deng Xiaoping has taken a personal interest in the Hong Kong
issue his voice is decisive and the importance of the aforesaid
Committee should not be exaggerated. But no reliable information
is available about relations between the Committee and Deng. In
fact since Deng's withdrawal from all formal positions in 1990
his own office is run by close confidants including one of his
daughters and it is very unclear as to what state papers reach
him and on what terms. Meanwhile reports appear from time to time
about statements and often enigmatic phrases which he is said to
have uttered, leaving it to lower level officials to carry them
out in practice as best they may.
The Director of the Hong Kong Macau Office does not enjoy
the kind of administrative support common to other ministries.
As far as
as is known he has a relatively small staff. Although
there are major Chinese establishments with huge and extensive
economic interests in Hong Kong such as The Bank of China, China
Resources
the China International Trade and Investment
Corporation (CITIC) etc., who are extraordinarily well informed
about how the territory is run, they tend to stay clear of the
sensitive politics associated with the negotiations even though
apparently they will
they will give
when required on
give expert
advice