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Along a similar line, the Express said the fact that British investors chose to remain in HK and inject new investment showed they were confident of the outcome of the diplomatic talks. However, the right-wing Kung Sheung Daily News said both the Chinese and British Governments had not taken the interests of local residents into consideration. The British were still discriminating against local residents in the Nationality Act, while the Chinese had never paid any regard to local residents' wishes to lead a free life. The Oriental Daily News said HK people's wish to maintain the status quo was demonstrated by the minimal response to Beijing's appeal to speak up on the 1997 question. Hong Kong people wanted the status quo and loved their lifestyle here. They could speak freely and even criticise the Government. The HK Daily News said only people with ulterior motives would seek to undermine the prospects of co-operation among China, Britain and HK. These people included those who propagated Beijing's sovereignty claim over HK.
In the left-wing Press, a commentary in Wen Wei Po disagreed that HK people were now already governing HK. Firstly, though there was a greater proportion of Chinese officers in the higher echelons of the Government, HK was still under the colonial rule of a Governor appointed by the Queen and with the majority of Secretary posts occupied by British people. Secondly, though there were Chinese members in Exco and Legco, both Councils were still dominated by the British. Urbco played only a secondary role in HK's administration. Lastly, Hong Kong had to take on Britain in the textile talks because the protectionist British gave more consideration to their own interests.
A commentary in the readers' forum in Ta Kung Pao said HK's status quo could not be maintained if the economy here collapsed. The maintenance of prosperity was a pre-requisite in preserving HK's existing systems. Should this fail, Beijing had no alternative but to introduce the nation's economic system to HK.
8.
WIDE ANGLE:
The 16 April issue of Wide Angle said senior Government officials, including Sir Philip Haddon-Cave, Mr. David Akers-Jones, Mr. Denis Bray, Mr. John Griffiths and Mr. Peter Tsao, had all spoken highly of Government's mechanism and the factors required to maintain HK's status quo. On top of this, Mr. Akers-Jones had been busy visiting students of the two universities to explain Government policies and to hear their views on the 1997 question. He had also attended meetings of community groups which were concerned about HK's future. All of this showed that the Government was concerned about its own image. The statements by these senior Government officials, and the restructuring of GIS by Mr. Tsao to build up the Government's image could be seen as some form of "crisis management".
It was reported that the Government had assigned more staff to liaise with grassroots organisations including schools, mutual aid committees and kaifong associations.
If this was the case, it indicated that the Government had not overlooked the power of the grassroots.
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