DIFFEB-1930
SOUTH CAINA MORNING POST
+852 811 1048
P.02
South China
Sunday Morning Post
QUESTIONS FOR FOREIGN SECRETARY DOUGLAS HURD
1. China has repeatedly said it proposed reforms. Yet they are beyond, unchanged. How do you itself in the future?
will not accept Mr Patten's likely to pass to Legco, and see this impasse resolving
2. Do you share the view of a former member of the Foreign Office that Sino-British relations are worse now than at any time since the Cultural Revolution?
3. Has China's stance on Mr Patten's reforms come entirely as a surprise, or was it something to be expected at this stage in the transition, when dealing with such a difficult issue as the 1995 polls?
4. How much harm has been done to Sino-British relations by the Chinese attacks of recent months? Why do you believe Beijing ignored your request (in New York on September 26) not to rush into an immediate denunciation of the Governor's proposals?
5. What can you do, as Foreign Secretary, to try and rebuild the Sino-British relationship?
6. Has any date been fixed for a meeting with Mr Qian Qichen a venue settled? Will you be visiting Hongkong on your way to or from the meeting?
or
7. Are you disappointed by the lack of results from previous such meetings, especially the failure to make any progress on some Joint Liaison Group (JLG) issues (eg. air service agreements) you stressed strongly during them?
8. Given China's absolute refusal to talk to Mr Patten unless he withdraws his proposals, are you and the Foreign Office prepared to take
take a more active role in dealing directly with Beijing on issues they refuse to talk to the Governor about?
9. Is there any possibility of the Prime Minister raising Hongkong issues directly with the Chinese leadership this year? Given previous Sino-British impasses have been broken by letters between the two Prime Ministers is a similar step being considered this time?
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