UNCLASSIFIED
PaR Ching angle
032650 MDHIAN 6877
UNCLASSIFIED
FM PEKING
TO IMMEDIATE FCO
TELNO 1573
OF 091114Z NOVEMBER 92
INFO IMMEDIATE HONG KONG, UKREP JLG HONG KONG, BTC HONG KONG
NPC DEBATE ON THE GOVERNOR'S CONSTITUTIONAL PROPOSALS: CHINESE MEDIA COVERAGE
SUMMARY
1.
PEOPLE'S DAILY (8 NOVEMBER) CARRIES A LONG ARTICLE DESCRIBING CRITICISMS BY MEMBERS OF THE NPC STANDING COMMITTEE AND DEPUTIES TO THE NPC THAT THE GOVERNOR'S CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM PACKAGE HAD SERIOUSLY VIOLATED THE RELEVANT PROVISIONS AND SPIRIT OF THE JD, AND THAT HE HAD FAILED TO KEEP THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT'S PROMISE TO ENSURE THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM IN HONG KONG CONVERGED WITH THE BL. THE PROPOSALS WOULD, IF IMPLEMENTED, RESULT IN GREAT CHANGES TO THE CURRENT POLITICAL SYSTEM IN HONG KONG. NO FORMAL DECISION R STATEMENT ON THE STATUS OF THE GOVERNOR'S PROPOSALS APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN MADE. CHINA DAILY (9 OCTOBER) CARRIES THE ABOVE GENERAL COMMENTS AS PART OF AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE NPC'S DISCUSSIONS. FULL TEXT OF THE PEOPLE'S DAILY ARTICLE FOLLOWS BY FAX. OUR ROUGH TRANSLATION IS AS FOLLOWS:
DETAIL
2.
'SOME MEMBERS OF THE NPC STANDING COMMITTEE AND SOME NPC DEPUTIES POINTED OUT THAT THE GOVERNOR'S CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM PACKAGE OPENLY VIOLATES THE RELEVANT PROVISIONS AND THE SPIRIT OF THE JD, WAS AGAINST THE BRITISH SIDE'S PROMISE TO ENSURE THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF HONG KONG'S POLITICAL SYSTEM CONVERGES WITH THE BL, AND GOES AGAINST UNDERSTANDING ALREADY REACHED BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES.
'STANDING COMMITTEE MEMBER FU HUO SAID THAT PROTECTING HK'S PROSPERITY AND STABILITY IN THE TRANSITION PERIOD, AND ENSURING A SMOOTH TRANSITION AND SMOOTH TRANSFER OF POWER IN 1997 WERE RESPONSIBILITIES WHICH THE CHINESE AND BRITISH SIDES WERE DUTY-BOUND BY THE JD TO ACCEPT. 8 YEARS AGO, THE GOVERNMENTS OF BRITAIN AND CHINA HAD, PLACING THE BASIC INTERESTS OF THEIR TWO PEOPLES FIRST, AND AFTER MORE THAN TWO YEARS OF NEGOTIATIONS,
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