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Chris Yeung

CHINA and Britain yesterday remained deadlocked over the 1994-95 electoral arrangements, as another round of talks ended without any sign of a breakthrough.

  It is understood Beijing did not put forward any of the concessions which had been expected during the 16th round, and that the gap between the two sides remains as wide as ever.

  Although there was agreement the talks should be speeded, the next round will not be held until Friday and Saturday.

  British negotiator Christopher Hum hinted the Chinese had yet to respond to their ''new ideas'' on the controversial through-train criteria.

  ''I think they are studying it carefully,'' he said. ''We will be discussing them in the next round.'' Mr Hum, Assistant Undersecretary for Far East, replaced Ambassador Sir Robin McLaren at the 16th round.

  In Hong Kong yesterday, Executive Councillor Professor Edward Chen Kwan-yiu confirmed the British had put forward a new proposal during the latest round.

  ''It could provide a basis for the talks even though it may not match the views of the Chinese side,'' he said.

  But the Executive Councillor said both sides should consider breaking off the talks if no progress could be made - and predicted the negotiations could not go on beyond early next year.

  The 16th round was the first following the cabinet meeting in London led by Prime Minister John Major early this month.

  It is understood there was no agreement on the so-called simple issues, although the British diplomat said they continued to hope for a ''first understanding'' on these.

  These include the voting age, ''single seat, single vote'' election system, and abolition of appointed seats in the district boards and municipal councils.

  But Chinese chief negotiator Jiang Enzhu said on the first day of the talks Beijing would like to settle the district board and municipal polls before dealing with the 1995 Legislative Council elections.

  The remarks indicate differences between the two sides on how to speed up talks.

  Asked if the two sides shared a common understanding on the approach to talks, Mr Hum said: ''No . . . we're going to discuss that in the next round.

  ''We're discussing all the problems very seriously. We, for our part, would like to see a first-stage agreement and hope that the Chinese side also still has that objective.''   Although China has not, so far, indicated this at the negotiating table, sources said Beijing had no opposition to British proposals on the voting age and the ''single seat, single vote'' system.

  But the source refused to say whether that would apply to all three sets of elections, adding this depended upon the negotiating tactics.

  Mr Hum will fly to Hong Kong to report back to Governor Chris Patten and hold discussions with the Executive Council, before returning to Beijing for the 17th round.

  Professor Chen said the progress of the talks was a critical factor in deciding how long they could be allowed to go on for.

  He declined to comment on the differences between the two sides, but said he believed the so-called simple issues could be resolved, because they were not fixed in the Basic Law.

  ''There could be more difficulties for issues which were regulated by the Basic Law and the seven letters [between the two foreign ministers],'' he said.

  Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong chairman Tsang Yok-sing said yesterday some Hong Kong people had expected too much from the latest round.

  He said it was unrealistic to expect both sides to solve their differences so quickly, with the two sides still at odds over the definiton of the so-called simple issues.



Electoral talks end without progress