TNAG-2770-FCO40-3987-Coverage-of-Sino-British-talks-in-the-Hong-Kong-press-1993 — Page 227

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CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: PRESS REPORTS

JIANG ZEMIN

1.

PRESS COVERAGE TODAY (18 MAY) ON CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

WAS DOMINATED BY REMARKS MADE BY A NUMBER OF SENIOR CHINESE OFFICIALS. IN MEETING LORD CALLAGHAN YESTERDAY, JIANG ZEMIN WAS REPORTED TO HAVE SAID THAT CHINA HAD ALL ALONG ATTACHED MUCH IMPORTANCE TO SINO-BRITISH RELATIONS. GOOD RELATIONS WERE NOT ONLY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE OF BOTH COUNTRIES, BUT WERE ALSO CONDUCIVE TO WORLD PEACE. JIANG SAID THE HONG KONG QUESTION WAS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF SUCH A RELATIONSHIP. BOTH SIDES SHARED A COMMON INTEREST IN MAINTAINING HONG KONG'S STABILITY AND

PROSPERITY AND ACHIEVING A SMOOTH TRANSITION IN 1997. BELIEVED THAT IF THE CURRENT TALKS WERE CONDUCTED ON THE BASIS OF THE THREE COMPLIANCES, POSITIVE RESULTS COULD BE ACHIEVED.

QIAN QICHEN

2. THE MEETING BETWEEN QIAN QICHEN AND A COMMUNITY GROUP FROM HONG KONG WAS NOTED BY THE PAPERS. QIAN WAS QUOTED AS SAYING THAT CHINA AND BRITAIN HAD REACHED A SERIES OF IMPORTANT AGREEMENTS ON THE HONG KONG QUESTION. AS THERE WERE JUST SOME 49 MONTHS BEFORE HONG KONG'S REVERSION TO CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY, QIAN SAID THERE WAS NOW ONLY THE QUESTION OF HOW TO SERIOUSLY IMPLEMENT THOSE AGREEMENTS, BUT NOT THE SO-CALLED ''POLITICAL REFORM QUESTION''. AS LONG AS BOTH SIDES WERE SINCERE, ABIDING STRICTLY BY AGREEMENTS ON THE BASIS OF THE THREE COMPLIANCES AND MAKING NO UNNECESSARY COMPLICATIONS, THE PROBLEMS SHOULD BE RESOLVED.

3.

IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ON THE PROGRESS OF THE CURRENT TALKS, QIAN SAID THE CHINESE POSITION HAD BEEN CONSISTENT AND THEY WERE VERY SINCERE. CONFLICTS COULD BE RESOLVED IF BOTH SIDES COULD STRICTLY IMPLEMENT AGREEMENTS AND UNDERSTANDINGS WHICH HAD ALREADY BEEN REACHED. IN FACT, TRACKS HAD BEEN LAID DOWN FOR EVERYTHING. WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE WAS JUST TO FOLLOW THESE TRACKS. NO MATTER WHAT WOULD BE THE OUTCOME OF THE TALKS,

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