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ARTICLE 39 OF THE BASIC LAW SEMI COLON THE SAR COULD THEN FIND SUDDEN GAPS IN ITS LAWS. ZHOU SOUGHT TO ARGUE THE OLD NCNA LINE THAT THE COVENANTS SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED THROUGH THE LAWS OF THE SAR RATHER THAN THROUGH THE LAWS OF HONG KONG. WE POINTED OUT THAT THE LAWS OF THE SAR WOULD BE THE LAWS OF HONG KONG SAVE FOR ANY THAT CONTRAVENED THE BASIC LAW, AND WE HAD TAKEN GREAT CARE TO ENSURE THAT THE BILL OF RIGHTS WAS FULLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE JOINT DECLARATION AND ARTICLE 39 OF THE BASIC LAW. I URGED ZHOU TO TELL US NOW OF ANY SPECIFIC PROBLEMS THAT THE CHINESE SAW IN THE TEXT OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. WE WOULD CERTAINLY LOOK AT THESE SERIOUSLY. ZHOU DID NOT RISE TO THIS.
10. ON PADS, ZHOU SAID THAT A WORKING GROUP (XIAO ZU) HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED IN PEKING TO CONSIDER THE PLANS. IT WOULD BE SOME TIME BEFORE THIS GROUP REACHED CONCLUSIONS. HE ASKED WHETHER THE LOCATION OF THE AIRPORT AT CHEK LAP KOK WAS FINAL. CHE HAD CLEARLY BEEN INFLUENCED BY VIEWS OF SOME OF OUR ACADEMICS AND ENTREPRENEURS WHO HAVE ARGUED, INTER ALIA, THAT THE AIRPORT MIGHT BE SITED IN DEEP BAY.) I EXPLAINED CAREFULLY THAT ALL THE SITES WHICH SOME PEOPLE WERE STILL ARGUING FOR HAD BEEN VERY CAREFULLY EVALUATED DURING THE VERY LENGTHY SERIES OF FEASIBILITY STUDIES WHICH WE HAD UNDERTAKEN. THIS INCLUDED DEEP BAY AND THE SITE FOR WHICH GORDON WU HAD ARGUED SEMI COLON BOTH HAD SERIOUS FLAWS. ZHOU ALSO SAID THAT PEKING WAS WORRIED LEST THERE BE COST OVERRUNS AND A DEBT FOR THE SAR. I SAID THAT IT WAS NATURAL, IN A SERIES OF PROJECTS OF SUCH SIZE, THAT PRECISE COSTS WOULD VARY AS THE WORK PROGRESSED. INFLATION WOULD ALSO HAVE AN AFFECT. BUT WE REMAINED CONFIDENT THAT THE AIRPORT WAS FULLY AFFORDABLE. ALTHOUGH IT WAS HARD FOR PEOPLE IN CHINA TO UNDERSTAND, THE CASE FOR BUILDING IT IN TERMS OF THE ECONOMIC DISBENEFITS WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE ACCRUE TO HONG KONG WAS COMPELLING. IT WOULD BE QUITE WRONG TO CONSTRAIN HONG KONG'S FUTURE POTENTIAL AND FOR THE BRITISH ADMINISTRATION MERELY TO THINK OF THE
ECONOMY UP TO 1997.
11.
IN A BRIEF REFERENCE TO VBPS, ZHOU SAID THAT CHINA REALLY HAD DONE A LOT. HE FELT THAT THIS WAS NOT APPRECIATED. I TOLD HIM IT WAS BY THOSE WHO KNEW. THE VBP PROBLEM HAD BEEN ONE OF MY MAJOR WORRIES FOR 1990. THE DROP IN THE NUMBER OF ARRIVALS THIS YEAR WAS A GREAT RELIEF. A REPETITION OF LAST YEAR'S NUMBERS WOULD HAVE STRETCHED HONG KONG'S POLITICAL AND SOCIAL FABRIC TO BREAKING
POINT.
12. ON THE 4 JUNE DEMONSTRATIONS, ZHOU DID NOT SEEK TO ARGUE THAT WE SHOULD HAVE PREVENTED THEM. INSTEAD HE MAINTAINED THAT INCIDENTS
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