bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Chris Yeung

THE Sino-British Joint Liaison Group (JLG) is to resume talks in a three-day session beginning on Monday, completing the restoration of links that were broken in December over plans to expand democracy in the territory.

  However, there are unlikely to be any surprises or breakthroughs in important transitional issues that have been bogged down in the JLG, although Hongkong's continued participation in two international organisations after 1997 should be endorsed.

  A source said yesterday: ''The preparations have already been made . . . You can't expect a lot from a full session. But of course, having a meeting is better than none.''   Although the award of the rights to operate Container Terminal No 9 (CT9) is also expected to be discussed, the source said it was ''difficult to have an early settlement'' on the issue as China needed time to study the detailed contract terms.

  The resumption of JLG talks is an indication of reducing tension between London and Beijing.

  Sir Robin McLaren, the negotiator in Beijing talks on the 1994/95 electoral arrangements, said yesterday Britain made a lot of positive moves to help the talks which end today.

  ''There are various moves we have made locally. The Chinese side knows about this,'' he said.

  Sir Robin made the remark in response to his counterpart Jiang Enzhu's saying the Chinese side had taken a series of steps to ensure a positive outcome.

  However, Sir Robin declined to go into details of the British moves, although he said it did not mean concessions by the British side.

  A Hongkong Government spokesman last night denied a report by Radio Television Hongkong quoting sources in Beijing that Britain had apparently dropped the proposal on the functional constituency elections.

  The report claimed China and Britain had agreed in principle that the functional polls should be based on ''well-recognised organisations or professions''.

  The spokesman dismissed the report as inaccurate.

  Sir Robin denied that progress had been hampered by Chinese allegations of Britain lacking sincerity towards the talks.

  ''I don't believe there is an obstacle of sincerity,'' he said. ''We don't spend a lot of time bandying words about who is sincere and who is not. We are working for the success of the talks.''   A Chinese source said that if Beijing believed the British was not sincere at all, ''co-operation over talks on the airport and JLG matters will certainly be affected''.

  There is unlikely to be any early agreement on the CT9 project, despite active lobbying by the business community.

  Chinese sources yesterday stressed that Beijing had never been opposed to the involvement of the Jardine Group in the container port's development.

  Beijing wanted the British side to give a satisfactory explanation about the conditions for the award.

  ''The Chinese side will not press for the easing out of the Jardine Group from the Tsing Yi consortium because our policy is to welcome all foreign investors, including the Jardine Group, to continue their investment activities in Hongkong before and after 1997,'' the source said.

  It was learned that Sir Charles Powell, executive director of Jardine Matheson, had expressed the desire for an early settlement of the question of CT9 at his meeting with officials from the State Council's Hongkong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) last week.

  Chen Zuo'er, a department head of the HKMAO, declined to comment whether China would give the green light to the CT9 project at the JLG meeting, nor say whether Sir Charles' visit to Beijing had helped in the bid for an early settlement of the issue.

  He urged the Jardine Group to work for the smooth transition and stable handover of sovereignty in Hongkong.

  Also high on the agenda in next week's JLG talks will be the defence arrangements for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the territory after 1997.

    A source said there had been no major ''breakthrough'' over the handover of existing military sites to China although defence experts from the two sides had held a session in Hongkong two weeks ago.

  The source said Tamar naval base remained the major stumbling block for a full agreement on the defence arrangements.

  It is understood the Chinese side have insisted retaining the Prince of Wales Building as the future PLA headquarters.

  ''Experts from the two sides still need to have more discussion on the matter,'' the source said.

  ''Therefore, the outcome of the talks is already a foregone conclusion,'' he said.



JLG talks to resume next week