11.   Last year Beijing appointed a committee of Hong Kong residents sympathetic to China, and they put together the provisional legislature.

12.   More importantly, the political row over the provisional legislature should not be allowed to spill over to the civil service.

13.   Mr McGlynn said no one should be surprised by their differences on the provisional legislature.

14.   On her arrival at the Xinhua compound, Mrs Chan was asked by protesters to relay a petition letter against provisional legislature to Mr Lu.

15.   Previously tipped as a possible chief executive, Mrs Chan has already criticised the creation of the provisional legislature.

16.   She said the association could not accept that one of the functions of the Selection Committee would be the election of the provisional legislature.

17.   The association wrote to the committee yesterday explaining its opposition to the provisional legislature and seeking a decision on whether its members could still attend the consultations.

18.   The committee said the provisional legislature should begin operation after the chief executive is chosen later this year.

19.   The danger of befriending only those who support the provisional legislature and isolating those who oppose the caretaker plan is social polarisation in a more open and damaging form.

20.   The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office spokesman said the team-designate of the Special Administrative Region would have to be accountable to the provisional legislature.