A mainland official urged "pro-democracy" legislators yesterday to help dispel the worries of some Hong Kong people over the central government's decision to interpret the Basic Law.

Cao Erbao of the liaison office of the central government in the SAR made the appeal while meeting with three pro-democracy legislators in the liaison office.

The NPC Standing Committee interpretation is to clarify certain issues of procedure in Annexes I and II of the Basic Law relating to the method for selecting the chief executive in 2007 and forming the Legislative Council in 2008.

The three legislators were Frederick Fung Kin-kee of the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, Cyd Ho of The Frontier and James To of the Democratic Party.

The trio originally planned to pay a visit to Beijing to voice the views of the SAR's pro-democracy legislators over the interpretation decision to Qiao Xiaoyang, deputy-secretary-general of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC).

They changed their mind after officials of the liaison office offered on Tuesday night to see them and relay their messages to the NPCSC.

In the two-hour meeting, starting from 11:30 am, Cao, director-general of the liaison office's research department, listened seriously to the lawmakers' opinions.

He told them that the NPCSC's decision has been made after gauging the opinions of different sectors of society in Hong Kong and in light of the Constitution and the Basic Law. The move will serve to allay worries and put a halt to the on-going dispute over the Basic Law provisions in question.

He expressed his hope for the three, as legislators of the Hong Kong SAR, to give a positive and constructive response to this major decision of China's supreme organ of power.

Frederick Fung described the meeting as the first step in opening communication between the central government and the "pro-democracy" camp in Hong Kong over the issue of political development.

He said that in the meeting "both sides communicated in an easy manner and talked sense".

The three legislators expressed their opposition to NPCSC's interpretation decision, reiterating that this move would undermine "One Country, Two Systems" and Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy. James Tien, chairman of the Liberal Party, also hailed the meeting as the first step in establishing contacts between Beijing and democrats.

(China Daily HK Edition April 1, 2004)