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DAILY SAID THAT BRITAIN'S DECISION TO GIVE UP SOVEREIGNTY AND ADMINISTRATION WAS WISE AND COOL HEADED. WITH THIS MAJOR QUESTION SETTLED, HONG KONG COMPATRIOTS SHOULD JOIN HANDS WITH CHINA TO WORK FOR HONG KONG'S GREATER PROSPERITY. THE TA KUNG PAO (COMMUNIST) CARRIED A NEWS ANALYSIS COLUMN, WHICH OBSERVED THAT THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S REMARKS ON SOVEREIGNTY AND ADMINISTRATION HAD ATTRACTED MUCH ATTENTION. IT ALSO NOTED THAT THE SECRETARY OF STATE WAS QUOTE BASICALLY OPPOSED TO UNQUOTE A REFERENDUM.
6. THE WEN WEI PO CARRIED A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF A MEETING BETWEEN LOCAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND XU JIATUN, DIRECTOR OF NCNA, HONG KONG. XU WAS QUOTED AS HAVING SAID THAT THERE WERE TWO ASPECTS OF THE HONG KONG FUTURE ISSUE: THE REUNIFICATION OF CHINA AND THE MANNER IN WHICH HONG KONG WAS TO BE ADMINISTERED AFTER 1997. THE FIRST WAS A SUBJECT FOR THE NEGOTIATIONS WITH BRITAIN. THE SECOND WAS A CHINESE INTERNAL AFFAIR. CHINA HAD ALREADY NOTIFIED BRITAIN OF ITS POLICIES IN THIS RESPECT.
7. A WIDE RANGE OF PUBLIC FIGURES WERE INTERVIEWED BY THE PRESS, RADIO AND TELEVISION. UNOFFICIAL LEGCO MEMBERS ALLAN LEE, STEPHEN CHEONG, SELINA CHOW, PAULINE NG AND DR HU KAM-FAI, SIR PETER BLAKER (CHAIRMAN OF THE ANGLO/HONG KONG PARLIAMENTARY GROUP), MR JIMMY MACGREOR/HONG KONG GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE), SPOKESMEN FOR MEETING POINT, THE OBSERVERS AND THE HONG KKONG BELONGERS PRESSURE GROUPS AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF ACADEMICS ALL WELCOMED THE REMOVAL OF UNCERTAINTY AND SUGGESTED THAT THE STATEMENT GAVE HONG KONG PEOPLE A BASIS ON WHICH THEY COULD WORK TO HELP SAFEGUARD THEIR OWN FUTURE. MR MACGREGOR DID NOT (NOT) THINK THAT THE STOCK MARKETS WOULD REACT STRONGLY WHEN THEY REOPENED AFTER THE HOLIDAY. THE OBSERVERS SPOKESMAN ADDED THAT A CLEARER INDICATION OF HOW THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT INTENDED TO PROMOTE REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG WOULD HAVE BEEN WELCOME.
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