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The Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, issued the following statement today (April 19) in response to the decision made by the Chairman and Vice-chairpersons of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) to put the report submitted by the Chief Executive on the constitutional development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on the agenda of the NPCSC's meeting for deliberation at their meeting on April 25 and 26 :

"I am thankful to the NPCSC for putting my report on the constitutional development of Hong Kong submitted last week on the agenda for their meeting to be held on April 25 and 26. This arrangement shows that the Central Authorities attach great importance to the report and the constitutional development of Hong Kong.

"I hope that after deliberating my report, the NPCSC will soon determine that the methods for selecting the Chief Executive of the HKSAR in 2007 and for forming the Legislative Council of the HKSAR in 2008 can be amended, so that we can move on to the next step as early as possible in taking forward Hong Kong's constitutional development.

"The Constitutional Development Task Force will visit Shenzhen on Thursday (April 22) at the invitation of the NPCSC to brief their representatives on its second report."

Ends/Monday, April 19, 2004

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