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Response to Mr Lu Ping's speech
Commenting on the speech by the Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Mr Lu Ping, today (Thursday), a Government spokesman said: "We welcome the very general reassurances contained in Director Lu's speech and the fact that he has identified four of the issues of considerable concern to Hong Kong people - the Court of Final Appeal, nationality issues, the future of the civil service and land leases. Hong Kong people would now like to see the discussion move from the general to the specific.
"With just 775 days to go until the handover, the community would be reassured to know China's detailed position on the issues raised by Director Lu. For example:
(a)
(b)
On the Court of Final Appeal, Mr Lu did not address the clear call from businessmen, LegCo Members and others for the Bill to be tabled and the Court to be set up in good time before 1997. This is a pressing issue which is already affecting business confidence. The Chinese side has had the draft Bill since May 1994. The community would like to know, in layman's terms, what difficulties they have with it and in what ways they consider it diverges from the 1991 agreement, It would be particularly reassuring if Director Lu were able to say by when the Chinese side expected to agree that the Bill should be introduced into LegCo. Hong Kong people will be disappointed that he has not addressed two matters of real concern to them. They would like to know China's formal position on the scope of the Court's jurisdiction and whether they still agree that it will have genuine final adjudication.
We welcome the attention that Mr Lu gave in his speech to the vital issues of the rights to live in Hong Kong and to travel freely. Director Lu gave a particular assurance that China intends to treat the issue of returning Hong Kong emigrants with flexibility. Hong Kong people would like to know at an early date the precise arrangements for enabling them to secure or retain these rights.