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TELEGRAM NUMBER 1875 OF 5 DECEMBER
COPY
12RE Y/1C CH17/12
INFO IMMEDIATE PEKING AND HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE LONDON.
ROUTINE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, BRUSSELS AND GENEVA.
FUTURE OF HONG KONG: PRESS COVERAGE.
NEWSPAPERS OVER THE WEEKEND GAVE CONSIDERABLE COVERAGE OF 306 THE RECENT REMARKS BY JI PENGFEI (MY TELNO 1862) AND XU JIATUN
1
(MY TELNO 1868 ON THE 'MINI-CONSTITUTION' FOR HONG KONG AS A
SELF-RULED SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION.
#
2. IN ITS EDITORIAL ON SATURDAY, WEN WEI PO (COMMUNIST) UTTERED
THE CALL FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE DRAFT MINI-CONSTITUTION AS A
SIGN OF 'WIDE-SPREAD DEMOCRATIC ACTIVITY'' DISCUSSION OF THE
MAINTENANCE OF PERSONAL FREEDOMS UNDER THE EXISTING LEGAL STRUCTURE
WOULD STRENGTHEN PUBLIC CONFIDENCE. THE EDITORIAL SAID THAT
AFTER 1997 HONG KONG WOULD BE RULED BY ITS CHINESE RESIDENTS.
BY THAT TIME ONLY THE ONE BILLION CHINESE PEOPLE, INCLUDING ITS
SIX MILLION IN HONG KONG, WOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK ON HOW
TO ADMINISTER HONG KONG.
(320)
3. TA KUNG PAO (COMMUNIST) ALSO CALLED ON PEOPLE TO DISCUSS THE
MINI-CONSTITUTION AND SAID THAT ITS CONCEPTION SHOWED CHINA'S
FAR-SIGHTEDNESS AND THE LONG-TERM NATURE OF ITS POLICIES.
IN A RELATED COMMENTARY, THE NEWSPAPER SAID THAT JI PENGFEI'S
AND XU JIATUN'S REMARKS AGAIN DEMONSTRATED PEKING'S RESPECT FOR
PUBLIC OPINION AFTER SOVEREIGNTY AND ADMINISTRATION HAD BEEN
RECOVERED BY CHINA.
4. THE NEW EVENING POST'S (COMMUNIST) EDITORIAL ASSERTED THAT
THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT ON THE DRAFT MINI-CONSTITUTION WAS
AN EXPRESSION OF CHINA'S DESIRE TO GRANT DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS TO
THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG.
5. ALL PAPERS REFERRED TO AN NCNA DESPATCH ON NPC CHAIRMAN/PENG
ZHEN'S STATEMENT, MADE ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION
OF CHINA'S STATE CONSTITUTION, THAT HONG KONG WOULD NOT HAVE TO
ADOPT SOCIALISM WHEN SOVEREIGNTY AND ADMINISTRATION REVERTED TO
CHINA.
THE NEW EVENING POST'S EDITORIAL ON 4 DECEMBER INTERPRETED THE
STATEMENT AS AN INDICATION OF THE ONCE STATE-TWO SYSTEMS''
PRINCIPLE. THIS WAS ECHOED BY A COMMENTARY IN TA KUNG PAO ON 5
DECEMBER.
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/ b. REACTION
See (329)
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