Legco member Lee Yu-tai suggested that a Legco adjournment debate be held before the survey report was submitted to the Governor-in-Council.
Convenor of the BLDC special group on the political system Dr Louis Cha said that the group was keeping a close watch on the results to be reached by the survey office on the Green Paper.
At an in-house meeting on Friday, Legco members agreed to hold a debate on the Green Paper in July. Selina Chow said the debate would allow the public to have some insight into what Legco members thought of the various ideas put forward in the Green Paper.
Speaking at a public function, Acting Governor Sir David Akers-Jones said that the survey office would be able to conduct its own public opinion survey on the Green Paper if necessary. Sir David said the terms of the office had been very carefully drafted so that they gave it very wide powers to ensure that public opinion was properly collected and reported.
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The meeting between Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe and his Chinese counter- part Wu Xueqian on Friday was reported in moderate coverage. Sir Geoffrey described the meeting as valuable and said that he had received reassurances that change in China's leadership would not affect the country's commitment ot HK.
COMMENTARIES
Independent Paper: Ming Pao (27.3) said that China had made concessions on the issue of nationality and had handled it in a flexible way. The HK Economic Journal (27.3) agreed that China had made great concessions in allowing Macau residents to hold dual in nationality. The paper said tha the Portuguese Government had handled the issue in a far better way than the British. Commenting on the setting up of the survey office, Sing Pao (26.3) said the Government must put more emphasis on publicity to encourage the silent majority to speak their minds. The Express (26.3) doubted whether the Government would take public opinion seriously. The Oriental Daily News (26.3) said the Government must show sincerity to win over public confidence in order to ensure that fair and objective views would be expressed.
Left-wing Papers: Ta Kung Pao, Ching Po and the HK Commercial Daily (27.3) welcomed the agreement, saying that it was an indication that the "one coutnry, two systems" plan would work. Ta Kung Pao said that the settlement of the Macau issue was one big step forward in China's reunification. Tong Yuk-hon of the Ta Kung Pao (27.3) said that as HK and Macau were Chinese territories, there were no reasons for these two placee to be administered by foreign countries for long. However, these two places could be the bridge linking China with Britain, Portugal and other countries. The paper said that the changes to HK and Macau were in the interests of China and other countries that enjoyed friendly relationship with China.
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