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Christian Industrial Committee: The CIC has said in its annual report local people should have the right to participate in the decision-making process on their future. HK was part of China; the sovereignty over HK brooked no dispute. HK was our home, this was the place where some of us were born or had grown up; we were now closing in on 1997.
It was obvious that both the Beijing and London governments had not done enough to hear the opinions of the HK people, especially those of the lower-income group. We had the responsibility to point out that the people of HK should be consulted on their future; they should also have the right to participate in the decision-making process.
Stop making wild statements: The director of the HK General Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Jimmy McGregor, has said Chinese authorities should refrain from making wild statements about HK's political future pending a conclusive outcome of Sino-British talks over HK's political future; he also said the prospect of the HK dollar depended chiefly on China. Only when the Chinese authorities refrained from making statements about HK's political future could the local currency have the chance to regain its strength. A report of Mr. McGregor's remarks appeared in the Standard business pages on 5 May. Meanwhile, the Asian Wall Street Journal on the same date said the HK dollar was on the skids and the colony was rapidly running out of ammunition to protect the exchange rate of the currency. It went on to say that local investors started deserting the HK dollar for the US currency six months ago just after Britain and China held their first round of talks over the colony's future.
Trafalgar Housing: The Business Standard reported on 3 May that Trafalgar Housing was in the last stages of finalising its prospectus on investments related to its Taipa City Development in Macau, months after it was required to do so by the HK Government. The Commissioner for Securities, Mr. Robert Fell, said on 2 May that he had not yet seen the final draft of the prospectus; a tentative one had earlier been submitted and had met with his approval. The delay was apparently with the Portuguese Government which had still to approve certain details due to hesitancy over certain provisions on resident rights for HK Chinese investors. The Standard reported that the Taipa development aimed to take advantage of the flight of Chinese capital from HK caused by uncertainty over the future. Taipa city developers hoped to lure local investors for the project with the offer of residents' rights and eventual citizenship in Portugal, which planned to join the EEC. Under Portuguese law, residence in Macau was equivalent to residence in Portugal, provided the resident could prove means of subsistence in Portugal. In addition to obtaining proof of Macau residence the individual, while not needing to be physically present in Macau, must submit proof of his social and economic link with the territory. In this case, purchase of a property would be sufficient proof, according to the prospectus.
HK & Macau to be one entity: The SCMP on 3 May carried an AFP report which said China would take back both HK and Macau in 1997, neither sooner nor later, and make one entity of the two territories, quoting the latest edition of Pai Shing. The agency reported that the director of China's HK & Macau Office, Mr. Liao Chengzhi, elaborated on the plan in talks with a delegation of HK academics which visited China last month. Pai Shing quoted an unidentified member of the delegation as saying Mr. Liao specifically mentioned 1997 as the year for resumption of sovereignty and that the 14 intervening years would
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