TNAG-1504-FCO40-2062-Guangdong-nuclear-power-station-project-at-Daya-Bay-safety-c-1986 — Page 189

SEP 05 '86 15:10 TIBCOOU) HK GOVT

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Maria Tam dismissed Martin Lea's arguments saying that standing orders made it very clear the Governor would decide if it was in the public's interest to call a special meeting. The Post said Sir David Akers-Jones backed away from his earlier outright rejection of Mr Lee's request, and indicated a special meeting could be held if the Council decided it wanted it. HKU law lecturer Albert Chen predicted the Government could face its first major political crisis if Mr Lee's call for the special debate gained majority support at the in-house meeting.

In a news analysis of the Legco fact-finding missions' report, Post reporter Albert Chan noted that the report, especially the part on the visits to the US and Japan, was written with an unmistakable bias against anti-nuclear views. The paper said the report leaves an unmistakable impression on the reader that Daya Bay will be built and that it will be safe. However, it must be read cautiously, in critical perspective.

The Standard said Martin Lee criticised the Umelco appointment system, which he blames for the lack of response among top Government advisory bodies to strong opposition to the Daya Bay nuclear plant. Mr Lee said decisions made by Exco are pushed through Legco through the influence of "common members" of Exco and Legco. The paper noted that although Mr Lee did not mention names, both Allen Lee and Maria Tam were "common members". The paper quoted Sir David Akers-Jones as saying that he understands the final contracts for the plant would not be signed earlier than September 20.

Ming Pao reported that of the 22 Legco Unofficials it contacted, 12 were in favour of a special Legco debate on the Daya Bay issue. Nine others remained neutral but raised no objections. Only Dr Kim Cham was against a special debate.

Some media reports quoted Allen Lee as saying that Legco members should visit Peking to reflect the "observations" in the report to China and to express HK people's concern about Daya Bay.

The Chief Secretary was quoted by some Chinese papers as describing the report as "very useful." He believed many of the report's suggestions would be acceptable to people building and managing the plant.

Secretary-general of Shenzhen, Zou Erkang said he believed that China would accept cross-border agreements on the monitoring of the plant as mentioned in the Legco report. He added that the Chinese Government would adopt the report's proposals as long as they could increase HK people's confidence on the plant's safety. He reiterated that the plant would be built, but added that the Chinese Government had taken HK people's views into account.

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