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pr. Presentation
122402 MDHIAN 2632
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FM HONG KONG
TO DESKBY 09100OZ FCO
TELNO 2475
OF 09090OZ OCTOBER 92
TOP COPY Q DIST..?
INFO PRIORITY PEKING, UKREP JLG HONG KONG, HKGO LONDON
FROM INFORMATION CO-ORDINATOR.
GOVERNOR'S LEGCO ADDRESS: PRESS REACTION.
SUMMARY
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1. THE GOVERNOR'S LEGCO ADDRESS ON 7 OCTOBER, AND REACTIONS TO IT. CROWDED OUT ALMOST ALL OTHER NEWS IN HONG KONG IN THE PAST FORTY-EIGHT HOURS. THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA BROADCAST THE ADDRESS AND THE GOVERNOR'S SUBSEQUENT PRESS CONFERENCE LIVE, AND ALSO DEVOTED A NUMBER OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMMES TO ANALYSING THE ADDRESS. THE PRINTED MEDIA CARRIED THE FULL TEXT OF THE ADDRESS AND HIGHLIGHTED THE MAIN POINTS IN NEWS COVERAGE. ALMOST ALL
EDITORIALS AND COMMENTARY COLUMNS IN THE PAST TWO DAYS HAVE BEEN
DEVOTED TO IT.
2. THE GOVERNOR'S PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES ON 8 OCTOBER (RADIO PHONE-IN, LEGCO QUESTION TIME, FIRST PUBLIC MEETING AT CITY HALL AND A LIVE TELEVISION DISCUSSION FORUM) WERE ALSO PROMINENTLY COVERED BY THE MEDIA TODAY (9 OCTOBER).
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PRESS REACTION HAS BEEN MIXED. THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PAPERS HAVE RESPONDED VERY POSITIVELY TO THE GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS. THE MAINSTREAM CHINESE PAPERS WELCOMED HIS SPENDING PROPOSALS, BUT HAVE BEEN LESS ROBUST ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL PACKAGE, WHICH HAS BEEN STRONGLY CRITICISED IN THE LEFT-WING PRESS.
DETAIL 8 OCTOBER
4.
THE TWO ENGLISH DAILIES GAVE VERY HIGH MARKS TO THE GOVERNOR AND THE ADDRESS. THE SCMP SAID THAT IT WAS VERY MUCH A QUOTE GO FOR IT UNQUOTE SPEECH, WASTING NO MORE TIME ON TACKLING LONG OVERDUE CHANGES. THE EDITORIAL CONCLUDED BY SAYING QUOTE ALL OF THE GOVERNOR'S INITIATIVES WILL NOT SURVIVE UNSCATHED, AND THE NEXT MONTH WILL GIVE A STRONG INDICATION OF HOW HARD HE IS READY TO BATTLE ON THEIR BEHALF, BUT LET NOBODY SAY THAT THE TERRITORY
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