TNAG-1246-FCO40-1560-Press-reports-on-the-future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 67

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Political Blackmail: Pro-Taiwan organisations, in celebration of "World Liberation Day" on 23 January, made a declaration which, among other things, described China's sovereignty claim on HK as political blackmail and its self-rule proposition as fraud. A pro-Taiwan organisation, with 70 NT community groups as its members, issued a statement on 18 January calling for maintenance of the status quo. They said HK was part of "Free China" (Taiwan) and should not be returned to China. It also asked the British Government not to betray the five million local residents here in the Sino-British talks.

China students back local self-rule: The leader of the All-China Federation of Students delegation at present visiting HK, Mr. Wu Xuefan, was quoted saying: local people should have national confidence in governing HK; the Chinese Government had made it very clear that self-governing was a feasible solution to HK's future; and China would make known in the not-too-distant future its proposals to solve the issue. Mr. Wu also said, to the delegation's understanding, the central government was extremely cautious about tackling the 1997 issue, with due consideration given to the preservation of economic advantages and the will of HK people, 98 per cent of whom were playing a decisive role in the future and were the major motivating force for self-rule. Differences in political systems would be secondary and

could be tolerated.

Tuen Mun light rail system decision linked to future: Michael Chugani, in a SCMP exclusive on 21 January about Kowloon Wharf's decision not to proceed with a light rail system for Tuen Mun new town, wrote that the collapse of the project came at a time when HK was going through a crisis of confidence over its future coupled with a severe global recession.

A Chinese Opinion: This column in the Standard of 19 January was entitled 'The Countdown to the Year 1997', and said it was ironic that HK, the success story of the post-war era, was now fighting hard to be the survival story of the century, hoping and praying it would be able to survive 1997 and live into the next century.

1997 issue also vital to Taiwan: In his "This Week' column in the SCMP on 24 January, Kevin Sinclair wrote that there were as many theories in Taiwan as there were in HK about 1997, but nobody seemed to link the future of HK in any way with the future of the island of Taiwan; the two were seen as very different issues. While the Mayor of Tainan said he had had many inquiries from HK businessmen and banks about investment in the area and welcomed HK people who wished to settle in the area of the island, his enthusiasm was not shared by the central government; a major influx of HK people could not be absorbed. The Taiwanese PM had made a statement in September, the main point of which was that Britain had no right to discuss HK's future with China because the legitimate government of China was on Taiwan, not in Beijing.

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