21.   The loyalty test for prospective members of the provisional legislature was indicative of what was to come.

22.   The provisional legislature, unlike Legco, would have only a marginal role in policy formulation.

23.   Then, Beijing officials here pummeled public confidence further by spreading hints that senior civil servants will have to declare their support for the new provisional legislature.

24.   There was even less reason to cheer the appointment of the new provisional legislature.

25.   They were trying to give Mr Lu a petition against the setting up of a provisional legislature after China regains sovereignty.

26.   To avoid a legal vacuum, the Chinese have explained, they had to set up a provisional legislature.

27.   Twenty-six members of the old legislature were not chosen for the provisional legislature.

28.   Xinhua vice-director Zheng Guoxiong said the provisional legislature was to assist the work of the Chief Executive-designate and was an indispensable part of the SAR government.

29.   Outside the legislature, union leaders staged an overnight sit-in protest, displaying a model of a rubber stamp which they said symbolized the provisional legislature.

30.   Patten told legislators Thursday that he would not cooperate with the provisional legislature, which he said had no basis in Hong Kong law.