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Pledge on airport cash talks

NEGOTIATIONS on the airport financing arrangements would not be aborted even if Sino-British negotiators were to end talks over the 1994/95 electoral arrangements, according to a senior Beijing official, Chen Zuo'er.

''Regardless of the outcome of the talks on the 1994/95 electoral arrangements, the Chinese side will put the maximum efforts to continue to discuss the airport project on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) [for building the new airport] to strive for an early agreement,'' Mr Chen said.

A department head of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in charge of economic affairs, Mr Chen made the remarks at a briefing to members of the economic sub-group of the Preliminary Working Committee for the Special Administrative Region Preparatory Committee on the latest development of the new airport projects.

Mr Chen assured members that the airport row could be resolved as long as there was a satisfactory financial arrangement on the airport and its rail link.

A sub-group member, Wong Po-yan, quoted Mr Chen as saying that the airport issue could be resolved before both sides reached a conclusion on the electoral package.

Speaking to the press, Mr Chen noted that the two major topics under discussion were the airport financial arrangements and the management of the Provisional Airport Authority.

Mr Chen said: ''Even if there was an agreement on the electoral package, a deal on the airport projects would not be forthcoming unless the financial arrangements of the new airport and its rail link as well as the Airport Authority Bill abide by the airport memorandum.

''On the contrary, even if the constitutional talks were unfortunately to break down, we would still try to reach a consensus with the British side on the construction and the future management of the new airport on the basis of the MOU so as to ensure the completion of the 10 core projects before June 30, 1997.'' Despite his assurance that the construction of the new airport projects would not be affected by the talks on the constitutional reform, Mr Chen could not give a date for the next Airport Committee meeting which was suspended last August.

An economic sub-group member said both sides still held different opinions on the cost of the airport and its rail link, the size of government injection, and the one-off grant of the 62 hectares of land along the airport railway.

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