Diplomatically tight-lipped

(First Edition)

China and Britain maintained strict diplomatic silence yesterday after a second day of talks on Hong Kong, but a senior Peking official hinted that the negotiations might not produce results, Reuter reports from Peking.

'It's difficult to say now if the talks will bear any fruit,' Lu Ping, China's top official for Hong Kong, was quoted as saying. Sir Robin McLaren, the British negotiatior, spoke to reporters after meeting China's Deputy Foreign Minister, Jiang Enzhu, but declined to indicate how the discussions were progressing.