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The SCMP, which appears to be getting into a battle of words with the communist press, said in a leader on 13 January that the last thing HK wanted to get involved in at this or any other stage of our discussions with China on our future was a game of chauvinistic one- upmanship. There was no place for chest-beating or cock-crowing, no reason for one side to claim the sole or even most of the success for what HK had achieved.
Thus a newspaper
in Guangdong had entered the fray by declaring that HK's prosperity was mainly due to "the arduous struggle of HK compatriots" and to help from China. And of course no one would dispute this. The success of HK was the success of its people and if the tribute must go anywhere it was to the endeavours of our five million people and indeed to their predecessors who started the process. The leader spoke of an “ideal partnership", but said the reason HK people were concerned about Chinese politics influencing this community a point discussed earlier this week by the Ta Kung Pao -- was that if it came under Beijing's sovereignty, it would be difficult to ensure its detachment in future. Much as we may admire what the present leadership had done for the Chinese people no one could predict the future. And the disgruntled radicals in China could not be dismissed as irrelevant. The leader agreed with the view of Miss Margaret Ng in her column that HK could be the economic and perhaps social leaven for China in the years to come.
7.
NT GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CALLS OFF 1997 OPINION POLL:
The papers reported that the NT General Chamber of Commerce had called off a survey of public opinion. The Chamber's president, Mr. Deacon Chiu, said the decision to call off the poll, which was to have started early this month, was because it was considered that the time was not ripe. The recession was still on and there were so many other problems to be faced. 1997 was still 14 years away and too many people had commented on the issue. The main concern now should be the prosperity of HK and there were so many economic problems to be solved first. The SCMP quoted Mr. Chiu saying he thought the survey would be taken up when the right moment came when the situation became better and there were more jobs for people. Professionals might be hired at that time to do the
survey.
A leader in the SCMP on 16 January said the decision not to go ahead with the survey would be viewed by most people with some degree of disappointment. The survey, it had been hoped, would have provided those monitoring the situation with a better insight into the views of the people. There was not anything to indicate with any accuracy just how the ordinary man in the street saw the political and business future of this territory. Government could not assume that the views of HK people were clear cut. A pro-China group, Meeting Point, had emerged to somewhat complicate the situation; this group contained several people active in Cultural Revolution activities and the Senkaku demonstrations. If the Chinese authorities used the stance of groups like Meeting Point as a propaganda weapon it would make the task of the negotiators even more difficult. A survey on the hopes and aspirations of the HK people needed to be done. At present we were getting a fragmented feedback
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