TNAG-2494-FCO40-3626-Future-of-Hong-Kong-constitutional-development-Chinese-reac-1992 — Page 56

UNCLASSIFIED

FM HONG KONG

TO PRIORITY FCO

TELNO 2821

OF 030901Z DECEMBER 92

UNCLASSIFIED

HKC 012/4

INFO PRIORITY PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG

ན Chnele

7227

131007

MDLIAN 9508

انتاست

LATEST PRO-CHINA COMMENTS ON POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

A SECOND POWER CENTRE

1

MANY HONG KONG AFFAIRS ADVISERS HAVE DENIED REPORTS THAT CHINA WOULD SET UP A COMMITTEE TO SCRUTINISE ALL CONTRACTS, LEASES AND AGREEMENTS STRADDLING 1997. NCNA HONG KONG BRANCH

VICE DIRECTOR, ZHANG JUNSHENG, HAD ALSO DECLINED TO COMMENT.

2.

HE

BOTH SING TAO DAILY AND HK ECONOMIC TIMES QUOTED CPPCC MEMBER

XU SIMIN AS SAYING THAT THE RELEVANT CHINESE OFFICIALS HAD

CONFIRMED TO HIM THAT THERE WAS NO QUESTION OF ESTABLISHING SUCH

A COMMITTEE BECAUSE THIS WORK SHOULD BE DONE BY THE JLG. COMMENTED THAT THIS WAS A RADICAL THOUGHT AND THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO CLARIFY THAT THE SETTING UP OF SUCH A COMMITTEE AND THE SAR PREPARATORY COMMITTEE WERE TWO SEPARATE MATTERS. OTHER HK AFFAIRS ADVISERS LIU YIU-CHU, T. S. LO AND KAN FOOK-YEE WERE ALSO QUOTED AS SAYING THAT THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF SUCH A PLAN NOR

HAD THEY BEEN INVITED TO BECOME MEMBERS. KAN ADDED THAT HE

BELIEVED THE JLG SHOULD BE THE STATUTORY BODY TO DISCUSS

CONTRACTS STRADDLING 1997.

EARLY TAKE-OVER

3.

POLITBURO STANDING COMMITTEE MEMBER, LI RUIHUAN, WAS QUOTED BY HENRY TANG OF A LOCAL TEXTILE DELEGATION TO PEKING AS SAYING

THAT CHINA WOULD NOT/NOT TAKE BACK HONG KONG BEFORE 30 JUNE 1997.

SING TAO DAILY ALSO REPORTED SIMILAR VIEWS OF A CHINESE SOURCE

THAT EVEN IF MY PROPOSALS FOR POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT WERE APPROVED

BY LEGCO NEXT FEBRUARY, CHINA WOULD AT MOST START ALL OVER AGAIN IN 1997 BUT WOULD NOT/NOT TAKE BACK HONG KONG BEFORE THAT.

THE SAR PREPARATORY COMMITTEE

4.

THE HK ECONOMIC TIMES REPORTED THAT CHINA ALREADY HAD PLANS

TO SET UP A SMALL PREPARATORY GROUP FOR THE SAR PREPARATORY

COMMITTEE BEFORE THE LATTER WAS SET UP IN 1996. THIS GROUP WOULD COMPRISE BOTH MAINLANDERS AND HONG KONG PEOPLE, THE LATTER MAINLY FROM BUSINESSMEN AND PROFESSIONALS. HOWEVER TWO HK AFFAIRS

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