Property tycoon Li Ka-shing said the most important objective of the Basic Law would be to maintain HK's existing freedoms and preserve the spirit of rule of law as they were vital to business operations in HK.
Managing director of China Dyeing Works Ltd Cha Chi-ming said the Basic Law should benefit not only HK but also China. He added that the drafting work would not be too difficult as the basic principles had already been laid down by the Joint Declaration.
Chinese General Chamber of Commerce president Henry Fok said the fact that some 40 per cent of the drafting committee members were from HK and that all consultative committee members would be local people showed that China had attached great importance to public views in HK.
Buddhist leader Sik Kok-kwong hoped that the Basic Law would provide For religious freedom and would stipulate that all religions would continue to exist in their present form after 1997.
Medical Association chairman Dr Raymond Wu said he would reflect the views of the medical profession to the committee. He said the Chinese Constitution and the Basic Law would never be in conflict because any question could be resolved through conciliation in a reasonable manner.
HKU Vice-Chancellor Dr Rayson Huang pledged to reflect to the committee the views of HK people, particularly those of the younger generation and students.
In a feature article, Wen Wei Po's Peking correspondent said an analysis of the background of the Chinese members showed that the drafting committee had a status equivalent to a "grade one ministry" as it comprised more than ten officials at the vice-minister rank or above. The committee would report to the NPC Standing Committee direct instead of coming under the NPC Work Committee on Legal System, as was the case of China's other law-drafting bodies.
PRESS COMMENTARIES
Non-Communist Papers
Four independent papers commented on the membership of the Basic Law Drafting Committee. The HK Economic Journal cautioned that although the HK members represented a wide cross-section of the community, they had been selected more for cosmetic reasons than anything else. The Financial Daily said the leadership of the group showed that the real power was firmly in the hands of Chinese officials. Ming Pao and Wah Kiu Yat Po, however, believed the HK members would play an important role in the drafting
process.
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