TNAG-1396-FCO40-1868-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Basic-Law-1985 — Page 62

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The HK Economic Journal, while agreeing that the HK members on the drafting committee were representative enough and would be accepted by HK people, regretted that they were not the best choices. It likened the HK members to "interior decorators" who would only give a fine tuning to sensitive provisions to set HK people's hearts at ease. The Chinese members were the "architects". "Although prominent figures from various sectors are included in the drafting committee, only a few have an adequate understanding and knowledge of the legal and administrative systems here. Most of the rest would only play a window-dressing role."

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The paper argued that it would be more appropriate to appoint most of the HK members on the drafting committee to the consultative committee. "Undoubtedly, most HK members are representative and their views reasonable and should be taken heed of. But what has happened now is that those who should in fact be 'consulted' have been put on the drafting committee, hence raising the cosmetic value of the drafting committee at the expense of its practical value. This would also downgrade the role of the consultative committee. We don't think this is a good arrangement.

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The paper maintained that at a time when HK had entered into the transition, China should not give so high a priority to its united front activities here. The tactic of "dishing out rewards" would no longer boost HK people's confidence.

The Economic Journal was surprised that Sir Sze-yuen Chung was not included in the drafting committee. Nevertheless, it noted that although Sir Sze-yuen was well qualified to be a member of the committee, he might not be able to fight for HK people's interests even if he was appointed to the group as the HK members would only be able to play a "cosmetic" role on the committee. The fact that Sir Sze-yuen was not appointed showed that the conservatives in Peking still had their influence. "The membership of the drafting committee indicates that China still regards support for China as the highest principle. But this is not an important ingredient for HK's prosperity and stability.

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The Financial Daily said the fact that four officials of the Chinese Government were appointed to the posts of chairman and vice-chairman reflected China's cautious approach to law-making. But on the other hand, this also unveiled China's conservative thinking in the drawing up of the Basic Law. "This arrangement, which emphasises that the initiative is in the hands of the Chinese Government in the drafting of constitutional laws, indicates that the entire process of drawing up the Basic Law would be subject to Peking's wishes."