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A Wen Wei Po reporter asked Xu adroitly: "Some people think that the Basic Law and Hong Kong's administrative reforms are two separate issues. What is your view on this question?"
G
Xu replied: "The Basic Law and Hong Kong's administrative
reforms
If you look at the it depends on which way you look at it. Basic Law itself, it will not leave Hong Kong's political system totally unchanged. Some changes have to be made, but how the change will be and how much will change has to be subject to discussion in future. Don't we have the Drafting Committee, the Consultative Committee and various sectors in Hong Kong? They can all express their views. But if you look at it from another angle, I am not in a position to comment." Xu's reaction to the remarks made by a number of Hong Kong Government officials on the Hong Kong question was, as
usual, "No comment".
The point Xu wanted to make is clear enough and there are implications behind his remarks. Hong Kong's political system can undergo any kind of change but Beijing will not necessarily be obliged to make the 'shunt' and to take over the territory without effecting any change. Changes will come, but how much is to be changed will be decided in future. The greater the changes made by the Hong Kong Government in the political system, the greater the future changes will be. If the Hong Kong Government cooperates with Beijing and works in accordance with the Joint Declaration, changes will be minimal. Only the parts which infringe on China's sovereignty and which contain colonial overtones will be changed. It is only a futile attempt to ain at major changes. If both sides can consult each other sincerely, all problems can be resolved. Does the Hong Kong Government not have people sitting on the Drafting Committee and Consultative Committee? This facilitates consultation. If Britain adopts the attitude of 'having no need to consult China', China is not entirely without its
own resources.
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