THE Government is hoping to reach some sort of definition of a ''local'' officer by 1995 so it can be decided whether expatriate contract officers will meet the future appointment requirements.
Government sources said yesterday that the Government would have formal consultations with China on the definition of ''local'' and the future terms of appointment and service conditions as outlined in the civil service consultative document announced onMonday.
Legislators from all sides said yesterday they supported the Government's plan to search for a common set of terms for local and overseas civil servants.
But they worried whether the proposed special contract offers would spark another round of debate between locals and expatriates.
In the consultative document, the Government proposed a more attractive set of contract terms for overseas candidates whose special expertise was not locally available.
To date, the Government had only informally mentioned the consultative exercise to China.
The subject is expected to be formally discussed in the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group (JLG).