TNAG-2788-FCO40-4027-Chinese-policy-on-Hong-Kong-an-overview-1993 — Page 23

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affected the confidence of the Hong Kong public. He said

that the British side had proposed the formation of a new functional constituency for the civil service and that this would be a fundamental change to the civil service system

and a serious matter which would affect the civil service's

stability and HKG's efficiency (HK press 6 September 1993).

D11.

Lu Ping claimed that giving permission for civil servants to participate in political groups constituted a fundamental change in the civil service system; this was a serious problem and would result in the government being affected by divisions among political groups, causing confusion in the civil service and affecting its stability

and efficiency (HK press 7 September 1993).

D12.

Speaking to a delegation of the Liberal Democratic Federation, Lu Ping said that the Basic Law stipulated that

there should-be no change in the civil service after 1997.

This meant that the civil service system should remain as

it was when the JD was formulated. All "false starts" by

the British side which contravened the Basic Law would be

null and void after 1997. Asked why the Chinese side had

not objected when HKG introduced guidelines concerning participation of civil servants in political parties in 1990, Lu asserted that HKG had then been making changes in

the form of internal guidelines but was now doing so

publicly (HK press 8 September 1993).

PREPARATORY COMMITTEE/PREPARATORY WORK COMMITTEE

El.

Lu Ping said that in the absence of convergence it

would be necessary to set up a "new kitchen". Asked whether a preparatory organ established before 1997 would infringe the provisions of the JD on Britain's

responsibility for governing Hong Kong before then, Lu Ping

said that the Preparatory Committee could not be