TNAG-1453-FCO40-1964-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Basic-Law-1986 — Page 8

Date

Statements by Chinese

Officials

BASIC LAW (72)

Newspaper Comments/Editorials Non-Communist

Communist

Statements/Comments

by others

17.4.86 (cont'd)

18.4.86

into five groups: The SAR's political system, the relationship between the SAR and the central people's government, the economy, residents' rights and obligations, as well as science, education and culture.

BLDC deputy secretary- general Lu Ping: He did not have much contact with people in the cultural field in HK during his visit because of time limits. He also do not have a deep understanding of the feelings of HK's

grassroots sector. These drawbacks will have to be remedied.

The draft code of

practice for BLDC members states that the chairman and vice-chairmen have the power to decide the agenda of the meeting and vet all the discussion papers. Without the approval of the meeting, they should not speak to outsiders as a

representative of the

HK Times: The setting up of the BLDC is a move by China to build up its political power in HK. What happened since its formation shows that the BLDC is merely a united front tool.

Wen Wei Po: The second BLDC meeting marks the beginning of concrete drafting work. Mutual understanding between HK and China will increase because they shared the common goal of maintaining the territory's prosperity and stability.

Ta Kung Pao: The second BLDC meeting will be as successful as the first one. There will be free discussions in a

democratic atmosphere.

New Evening Post: The actual drafting work of the Basic Law will begin after the BLDC has completed its current session smoothly.

Some HK BLDC members, including Martin Lee and Liu Yiu-chu: They are unhappy that the BLDC secretariat has too much power. The secretariat should only provide support service but now it had prepared a draft on the structure of the Basic Law without first consulting the members.

HK BLDC members: They are satisfied with the contents of the draft on the structure of the Basic Law. Maria Tam, Liu Yiu-chu and Szeto Wah said the draft was comprehensive.