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The delegation said the airport project at Deep Bay would benefit China, HK and Britain since it would stimulate trade and communications between China and the outside world. The Standard said the proposal seemed to rule out any HK Government plans to build a new airport at Chek Lap Kok which had been scrapped for political reasons, although a Government spokesman said no decision had been taken on the replacement airport. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Department said on 12 January that a decision on the proposed Chek Lap Kok airport was still far away, pending completion of two major studies on the project. The spokesman dismissed speculation that the Government had rejected proposals to build the second airport because of political uncertainties, saying no decision had yet been made because all the studies had not been completed.
2.
COMMENTS ON HK BY MR. IAN WRIGGLESWORTH:
The vice-chairman of the Anglo-HK Parliamentary Group, Mr. Ian Wrigglesworth, told a press conference on 15 January he thought it would be right to involve Ministers in the Beijing talks at an appropriate stage, to be determined by those involved in the current negotiations, but a great deal of groundwork must be done before such involvement occurred. When the talks were nearing their end, he thought it would probably help to reach a satisfactory conclusion if there was a degree of such participation and therefore political involvement in the discussions from the British side as well. He was very much aware that Ministers would have to carry the House of Commons on any negotiated settlement. After various discussions, he had the clear impression that the people of HK overwhelmingly wanted to see the status quo maintained in its entirety or as closely as possible. It was necessary for this and any future British Government to protect the interests and the way of life of HK in the negotiations which were taking place. People should not press for an instant settlement but allow the matter to take its course. The more heat that was generated by the discussions the more potential damage might be done to the prospects of HK in the short term. However, it had been represented to him very strongly that it would be right and desirable for the Government in some way to be able to consult public opinion in HK about the future. He hoped those groups which had gone to Beijing to express their views should also express them to both the HK and British Governments. What was important was that the negotiations brought about the continuing freedom of people and the continuation of the way of life here. His view was that this could only be guaranteed under British administration; one did not have to get over-worried about the question of sovereignty. The important thing was that we protected the interests of people and the way of life here by ensuring that we reached a settlement which incorporated British administration of this territory, Mr. Wrigglesworth said. He said it was inconceivable that the Beijing Government would be prepared to see HK rule itself as an independent territory. On the other hand, if appointments of people to run various establishments and Government posts here were made under the auspices of the Beijing Government, it would be an entirely different Government to the one HK had known all along. He did not think the world and the majority of people in HK would have confidence if that was the case. One reason why he was fairly optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations was that he could see no one who would benefit by any change; he could not see any benefit to China in the situation radically changing here. The SDP did not take the view that sovereignty was something that should impede the negotiations; after all, 92 per cent of the sovereignty of HK was about to disappear in 1997. So it was not something that one could easily hold up as something that should be maintained forever because clearly eight
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