Britain, China Discuss Hong Kong Roles : Takeover: Secretary Hurd says Beijing can comment but London has final say until 1997.

China will have a voice on various long-range issues affecting Hong Kong even before the colony’s 1997 return to Chinese sovereignty, but Britain will have the final say until that time, British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd said here Saturday.

“We intend to remain in full and effective control of decision-taking on the affairs of Hong Kong until 1997,” Hurd said at a news conference. “We shall provide full information to China. That is reasonable and right. Where important matters straddle 1997--begin before 1997 but carry on after--we shall welcome Chinese views and take account of them where we can.”

Hurd’s remarks came after three days of talks with Chinese leaders that largely focused on controversy over plans for a $16.3-billion Hong Kong airport project.

Under terms of the 1984 Sino-British agreement, Britain has the right to administer Hong Kong’s affairs until midnight of June 30, 1997, the moment when the colony returns to Chinese rule.

However, in recent months Beijing has declared that the proposed airport is too expensive. It would be built on an outlying island, then connected to Hong Kong’s business district by miles of roadways, tunnels and a 4,719-foot suspension bridge.

Chinese officials, expressing fear that the project would drain the Hong Kong government’s financial reserves, have said that Beijing wants a new airport to be built at less cost.

Many Hong Kong critics of China have charged that by its actions on the airport issue, Beijing is already intervening in Hong Kong’s affairs, in violation of the 1984 agreement.

Hurd said Saturday that while his talks in Beijing have failed to produce agreement on plans for the airport, Britain recognizes that China has sufficient power to influence the issue.

“The different possibilities for the project all involve a private-sector investment of about 25%,” Hurd said. During a stop in Hong Kong on the way to Beijing, Hurd said that it became very clear to him “that Chinese acquiescence in the project was needed before that 25% could become available.”

Hurd issued a warning that shortsighted intervention by Chinese officials in Hong Kong’s affairs could undercut the dynamism that has made the colony one of the world’s leading cities.

“They are concerned about the expense of the airport project,” Hurd noted. “This is a theme which they have developed for some time now. They believe that it is expensive, because it is expensive. We believe, or the Hong Kong government believes, that the expense of the different options is justified.

Hurd said he also raised human rights issues in his talks with Chinese leaders, specifically mentioning repression in Tibet and expressing concern for four Hong Kong residents imprisoned in China for alleged political crimes.

Three of the Hong Kong men--Lo Hoi-sing, Li Lung-hing and Lai Pui-sing--were sentenced to terms of four or five years for allegedly trying to help activists flee China after the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing.