The Secretary for Justice is to visit Beijing within days in an effort to defuse the constitutional crisis over the Court of Final Appeal ruling.
The trip was announced by Tung Chee-hwa, four days after the landmark judgment on right of abode was condemned by mainland legal experts.
'I have been in touch with the central authorities and have arranged for the Secretary of Justice to visit Beijing as my representative to communicate further with relevant departments of the central authorities,' he said.
Elsie Leung Oi-sie said she would reflect the situation in Hong Kong following the court ruling. 'We respect the independence of the Judiciary. The court ruling is legally valid,' she said.
The attacks by the mainland experts on Saturday - endorsed by a State Council spokesman on Monday - sparked concerns about the fate of the Judiciary.
Pro-Beijing figures had suggested the central Government might try to overturn the judgment, although there is no mechanism in the Basic Law for it to do so.
Yesterday, Basic Law Committee member Raymond Wu Wai-yung said overturning the ruling was one option - though not the best or only one.