bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Fanny Wong

PRIME Minister John Major has called Governor Chris Patten, the team trying to persuade China to accept broader democracy for Hongkong, and British cabinet members to a summit meeting in London on July 1.

  A terse statement announcing the meeting was issued by the Hongkong Government hours after Sino-British negotiators concluded a fifth round of talks over Hongkong's 1994/95 electoral arrangements, apparently without much progress being made.

  The statement played down Mr Patten's attendance by referring to it as one of his ''regular visits to London for consultations''.

  But sources described the summit as ''an important decision-making meeting'' to get the final backing from cabinet on a course of action.

  Chief negotiator Sir Robin McLaren and Hongkong's Secretary for Constitutional Affairs, Michael Sze Cho-cheung, will be joining Mr Patten at the summit.

  If Mr Sze sits in on the meeting, it will be the first time an ethnic Chinese member of the Hongkong Government has joined a cabinet committee meeting.

  Ministers present will include Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd, Defence Secretary Malcolm Rifkind and the president of the Board of Trade, Michael Heseltine.

  Mr Patten and Sir Robin were in London for meetings with Mr Major early in April, just before negotiations with the Chinese got under way in Beijing.

  A source said there was now growing frustration and irritation from both Hongkong and London at the lack of progress at the talks, the sixth session of which will be held next week.

  Different options are said to be on the cards, including giving a rigid deadline for the talks, allowing the negotiations to continue indefinitely or breaking them off.

  A source said further direction from the cabinet was needed.

  Another source dismissed the suggestion that Mr Patten might use the London visit to prepare for a retreat, given the intransigent position of the Chinese side.

  This week's meeting ended yesterday only with an agreement to meet again next Wednesday to Friday.

  Sir Robin said he could be taking some good news to London, provided more progress was made next week.

  He said he could see ''no conceivable reason'' why China might criticise the London trip as another ''trick''.

  ''I would be very surprised if they did,'' he said after the talks.

  He declined to say whether any sort of agreement had been reached during the talks, despite rumours that both sides had reached consensus on the principles of the functional constituency elections.

  Asked if there was a deadline, he said he did not want to comment, but repeated there was not an infinite amount of time available.

  Mr Patten said Hongkong wanted to get on with things and find some solutions.

  ''I think that's what the whole community wants,'' he said. ''After all, it was [the] British, Hongkong Governments which suggested the talks as long ago as last October. So we've been very constructive right from the outset.''   Mr Sze and Political Adviser William Ehrman, two of the five core members of the British team of the Joint Liaison Group (JLG), will miss next week's important plenary session because they will still be involved with the political negotiations.

  It was announced on Tuesday that the JLG will meet from next Monday to Wednesday.

  A source said it was not necessary for all members to attend.

  It is possible that during Mr Ehrman's absence, John Ashton, who will replace him in the summer, will sit in for him.



Meeting to seek cabinet's final strategy for talks with China