10
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1986
Q.
JANE HUTCHEON FROM ATV NEWS: HAS THE PEKING GOVERNMENT INDICATED ITS DISAPPROVAL (A) FOR THE CONCEPT OF DIRECT ELECTIONS AND (B) FOR THE PRESENT POLITICAL REFORMS?
MR RENTON: THE ANSWER IS NO TO BOTH QUESTIONS.
Q.
MICHAEL WONG FROM FINANCIAL DAILY: YOU DID TALK A LOT ON THE WORD CONVERGENCE. COULD I PUT THIS TO YOU: CONVERGENCE, DOES THAT WORD ALSO MEAN THAT THE SYSTEM DEVELOPING BEFORE 1997 SHOULD BE CONVERGED WITH THAT TO BE LAID DOWN BY THE BASIC LAW AND NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND?
I'M NOT A PROFESSOR OF MR RENTON : I THINK YOU CAN READ SEMANTICS, MY NAME IS NOT HENRY HIGGINS. PERHAPS IT SHOULD BE. BUT I SAY AGAIN THAT THE CONCEPT OF CONVERGENCE, AS I SEE IT, IS TO DRAW ONCE AGAIN ON THE RAILWAY TRACK ANALOGY. WE ARE CREATING A SET OF RAILWAY LINES THAT LEAD UP TO 1997, THE CHINESE WILL BE
THE NEED CREATING A SET OF RAILWAY LINES THAT LEAD ON FROM 1997. IS TO SEE THAT THOSE TWO RAILWAY LINES MEET TOGETHER AT A CROSSING POINT AT WHICH THERE WON'T BE GREAT JOLTS THAT WILL UPSET EITHER THE CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE OF HK OR THEIR ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
THAT'S ALL. TO ME CONVERGENCE THAT IS SO FUNDAMENTAL TO YOU ALL. MEANS TWO OR MORE PEOPLE MOVING IN THE SAME DIRECTION IN ORDER TO ARRIVE IN APPROXIMATELY THE SAME PLACE AT APPROXIMATELY THE SAME TIME. NOW THAT'S NOT A DEFINITION OF CONVERGENCE, BUT THERE'S NOTHING MORE SINISTER TO IT THAN THAT, IT IS NOT ONE BEING INFERIOR TO THE OTHER OR THE OTHER BEING SUPERIOR TO THE FIRST. I SAY AGAIN, SUGGESTIONS FOR A NEW WORD FOR CONVERGENCE PLEASE WILL BE VERY GRATEFULLY RECEIVED, BECAUSE I THINK IT IS A PITY WE SHOULD SPEND SO MUCH TIME ON SEMANTIC POINTS WHEN OF COURSE THERE ARE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS TO BE DISCUSSED.
MR RENTON, YOU HAVE SAID Q. WILLIE LAM FROM ASIAWEEK MAGAZINE. THAT CONCERNING POLITICAL REFORM IN HK YOU WOULD ENGAGE IN AN EXCHANGE OF VIEWS WITH PEKING AND ALSO CONSULT PUBLIC OPINION IN HK. WHAT IF PEKING WANTS A SLOWER PACE OF REFORM THAN WHAT HK PEOPLE WANT. HOW DO YOU SEE THE GAP BEING BRIDGED?
MR RENTON : I THINK SIR YOU ARE PUTTING WORDS INTO MY MOUTH THAT I DIDN'T EXACTLY SAY, PARTICULARLY IN WHAT YOU SAID AT THE BEGINNING. I WAS TALKING ABOUT EXCHANGE OF VIEWS HERE IN HK ON
I'M NOT AWARE THE POLITICAL ISSUES, ON THE POLITICAL REFORM. THAT I TALKED ABOUT EXCHANGE OF VIEWS IN PEKING ABOUT THE POLITICAL REFORMS OF THE MONTHS AND YEARS IMMEDIATELY AHEAD.
Q. DAVID FRASER, REUTERS: MY QUESTION, SIR, CONCERNS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN COLONIES AND THE MOTHER COUNTRY. COULD YOU TELL US, SIR, WHY THE PEOPLE OF HK ARE TREATED DIFFERENTLY BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GIBRALTAR AND THE FALKLANDS OR MALVINAS ISLANDS?
/MR RENTON.;