XN000022-1996-08-28 — Page 2

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JLG expert group on transitional budget to meet

The Sino-British Joint Liaison Group will hold its eleventh round of expert talks on August 29 and 30 in Hong Kong to discuss the preparation of Hong Kong's transitional budget and related matters.

The British team will be led by the Secretary for the Treasury of the Hong Kong Government, Mr K C Kwong. The Chinese team will be led by the Chinese Representative on the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group, Mr Chen Zuo'er. They will be assisted by experts.

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Government's response to SNEOA's judicial review

A government spokesman reiterated this evening (Wednesday) that the government guidelines on civil servants serving on the Selection Committee strike a reasonable balance and are fair and legal.

The spokesman was commenting on the fact that the Senior Non-Expatriate Civil Servants Association (SNEOA) had been given leave for judicial review on the guidelines.

Stressing that the civil service must remain politically neutral, the spokesman said the government therefore considered it was important that senior and certain other groups of civil servants should refrain from participating in overt political activities.

However, he said the government was unable to comment further until the terms of the challenge were known.

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