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142767
MDLIAN 2513
MINISTRY. CHEN ZIYING OF THE FOREIGN MINISTRY'S HK OFFICE WOULD BECOME A DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE STATE COUNCIL'S HK OFFICE AND HIS POST WOULD BE FILLED BY JLG REPRESENTATIVE WANG JIAJI. CHEN ZUO'ER, PRESENTLY A MEMBER OF THE CHINESE EXPERT TEAM ON THE AIRPORT, WOULD BECOME A DEPARTMENT HEAD AT THE STATE COUNCIL'S HK OFFICE.
NEW COMMUNITY GROUP
7. THE HK CITIZEN FORUM WAS FORMALLY SET UP ON JANUARY 20 TO ENCOURAGE HK PEOPLE TO STAY ON AND BUILD UP THE TERRITORY. A YEAR-LONG 'WE LOVE HK' CAMPAIGN WOULD BE LAUNCHED SHORTLY TO FOSTER A GREATER SENSE OF BELONGING TO THE TERRITORY.
AIRPORT
8. QUOTING SOURCES, ATV (16.1) REPORTED THAT THE CHINESE HAD ASKED THE HK GOVERNMENT TO CEASE TENDERING FOR PROJECTS RELATED TO AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT UNTIL AFTER BOTH SIDES HAD REACHED AN AGREEMENT ON THE MATTER. THE HK ECONOMIC JOURNAL REPORTED THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD GO AHEAD WITH THE AIRPORT PROJECT BUT AT A REDUCED SCALE AND WOULD FINANCE THE MAJORITY OF THE WORK TO AVOID LEAVING A FINANCIAL BURDEN ON THE SAR GOVERNMENT. WAH KIU YAT PO QUOTED DEPUTY SECRETARY FOR MONETARY AFFAIRS JOSEPH YAM AS SAYING THAT THE HK GOVERNMENT WAS MAKING PLANS TO SET UP A NEW FINANCIAL BODY SPECIFICALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGING THE EXCHANGE FUND. THE HK ECONOMIC TIMES AND SING TAO JIH PAO (19.1) QUOTED FINANCIAL SECRETARY SIR PIERS JACOBS AS SAYING THAT HK WOULD NOT ABANDON THE NEW AIRPORT PLANS BECAUSE OF THE 'ULTIMATUM' ISSUED BY THE CHINESE. THE MEDIA QUOTED OMELCO MEMBER DANIEL TSE AS SAYING THAT BECAUSE OF THE SCALE OF THE NEW AIRPORT PLANS HAD BEEN MADE TOO GRAND AND THE FUTURE SAR GOVERNMENT WOULD LIKELY HAVE TO BEAR THE FINANCIAL BURDEN, THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT HAD TO EXPRESS ITS VIEWS ON THE MATTER. HE PROPOSED THAT THE PROJECT BE SCALED DOWN AND BE COMPLETED BEFORE 1997 TO AVOID LEAVING A FINANCIAL BURDEN ON THE FUTURE SAR.
9. A NUMBER OF PAPERS (16.1), QUOTING AUTHORATIVE SOURCES, REPORTED THAT THE CHINESE COULD NOT AND WOULD NEVER JOINTLY RUN THE TERRITORY WITH THE BRITISH BUT THAT THEY WERE CONCERNED ABOUT QUESTIONS WHICH WOULD HAVE A LONG-TERM IMPACT ON THE POST-1997 PERIOD. SING TAO JIH PAO (16.1) QUOTED BRITISH SOURCES AS SAYING THAT THE BRITISH BELIEVED THAT HONG KONG'S INFRASTRUCTURAL PROJECTS BELONGED TO THE DOMESTIC AFFAIRS OF THE TERRITORY AND WOULD NOT INTERFERE WITH THEM BUT THAT AS CONTROVERSY OVER THE PROJECT HAD DEVELOPED INTO A POLITICAL ROW, THE BRITISH HAD
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