9
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1987
JULLAN MARSHALL (BBC EXTERNAL SERVICES) 1 CAN I ASK A QUESTION THAT
HAS BEEN ASKED BEFORE. IN A RATHER DIFFERENT WAY. YOU HAVE BEEN INVOLVED TO A VERY LARGE DEGREE IN THE NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE TRANSITION IN 1997. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE PRESENT, GIVEN THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SO INVOLVED IN THE NEGOTIATIONS, WHEN THAT TRANSITION OCCURS?
SIR DAVID: I SHOULD LIKE TO BE STILL ALIVE AT THAT POINT..
(LAUGHTER).
J. MARSHALLI AS GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG?
SIR DAVID: THAT IS A QUESTION I CAN'T ANSWER AT THIS STAGE.
CHAIRMAN: ANY MORE QUESTIONS PLEASE.
JONATHAN
JONATHAN MIRSKY: OF COURSE WE CAN'T EXPECT YOU TO COMMENT ON
ACTUAL MOVEMENTS IN PEKING. I'D JUST LIKE TO RETURN TO THE QUESTION I ASKED FIRST. AS YOU KNOW, THE CHINESE HAVE ALWAYS SAID THAT TO REASSURE PEOPLE IN HONG KONG ABOUT STABILITY, THAT WHAT IS NECESSARY, AS THEY'VE ALWAYS SAID, IS TO SEE HOW WE DO ON THE MAINLAND. NOW WHEN HU YAOBANG WAS HERE LAST SPRING, HE SAID TO EVERYBODY THINGS ARE ON COURSE IN CHINA, THEY CANNOT CHANGE.' DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO REASSURE PEOPLE IN HONG KONG THAT THAT, KIND OF CHANGE IS NOT GOING TO OCCUR IN CHINA AS OF THE EVENTS OF TODAY?
SIR DAVID COULDN'T PIN DOWN THE SOURCE OF THE FIRST BIT
OF WHAT YOU SAID. IN TERMS OF CHANGE, I THINK THE IMPORTANT POINT IS THE COMMITMENTS TO HONG KONG, WHICH ARE ENSHRINED IN THE JOINT DECLARATION, ARE COMMITMENTS OF THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT, AND AS I SAID I HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT THOSE COMMITMENTS WILL BE MET AND THERE WILL BE A FULL COMMITMENT TO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE JOINT DECLARATION.
CHAIRMAN: ANY MORE? DOWN THERE.
TERRY NEALON (RTHK): SIR DAVID, THE TITLE OF YOUR DOCTORAL THESIS,
I BELIEVE, WAS BRITAIN AND THE KUOMINTANG 1924 TO 1928' AND THAT THESIS INCIDENTALLY SEEMS TO HAVE MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARED FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. BUT MY QUESTION IS DO YOU THINK HONG KONG HAS A ROLE TO PLAY IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TAIWAN AND CHINA?
BIR DAVID