NOT. SO MY JOB IS TO WORK FOR HONG KONG. THAT IS WHAT I AM SENT HERE TO DO, THAT IS MY INTENTION, THAT IS WHAT I PUT ALL MY EFFORTS INTO DOING. SO IT IS A FAIRLY SIMPLE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.
OLIVER SCOTT: THAT?
MISS LANGSTON, WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE ANOTHER GO AT
CALLER: YES, I WOULD ACTUALLY. WILL YOU RESIGN BEFORE 19977
SIR DAVID: I'M SORRY?
OLIVER SCOTT: I THINK THE QUESTION WAS, SIR DAVID
CALLER: WILL YOU RESIGN AS GOVERNOR BEFORE 1997?
SIR DAVID: WILL I RESIGN? MY APPOINTMENT IS NOT ONE WHICH IS ENTIRELY IN MY OWN HANDS - I'M APPOINTED AT WHAT IS CALLED 'THE QUEEN'S PLEASURE'. SO WHETHER I SHALL SERVE TILL 1997 OR NOT, I DON'T KNOW. I SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ALMOST CERTAINLY NOT, THAT IS FAR TOO LONG, BUT PRECISELY HOW LONG I SERVE IS NOT SOMETHING WHICH IS IN MY BUT RESIGNING IS QUITE A DIFFERENT MATTER AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAD SOME DIFFERENT IDEA IN MIND NOT JUST HOW LONG I WAS GOING TO SERVE BUT WAS I GOING TO SUDDENLY THROW IN THE TOWEL AND IF YOU ARE ASKING ME, AM I GOING TO THROW IN THE TOWEL, THE ANSWER IS 'NO', I'VE GOT A REAL JOB TO DO AND I INTEND TO DO IT.
-
OLIVER SCOTT: ONE POINT WHICH FOLLOWS ON, REALLY, FROM THAT, SIR DAVID, IS THAT MR FRANCIS MAUDE, THE FOREIGN OFFICE MINISTER AND HE DOES WORK OUT OF LONDON OF COURSE IS GOING TO CHINA NEXT WEEK AND IN FACT I THINK HE IS STAYING IN HONG KONG OVERNIGHT TONIGHT, MANY PEOPLE OF COURSE, AND NOT ONLY IN HONG KONG, WILL BE ASKING THEMSELVES WHETHER HE SHOULD BE GOING TO PEKING AT ALL AFTER WHAT HAPPENED THERE A YEAR AGO.
SIR DAVID: YES, MR MAUDE IS ACTUALLY GOING TO PEKING IN JULY, SO HE'S NOT ACTUALLY COMING OUT HERE TONIGHT. I THINK IT'S A GOOD THING THAT HE SHOULD BE GOING. NOW, OF COURSE AFTER THE EVENTS IN JUNE LAST YEAR IN PEKING THERE WAS AN IMMEDIATE REACTION ROUND THE WORLD, AND THAT INCLUDED THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AND THEREFORE BRITAIN, AND SO THERE WAS A MORATORIUM, AS IT WERE, ON HIGH LEVEL VISITS. BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE SITUATION FROM THE HONG KONG POINT OF VIEW, WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH CHINA. CHINA IS OUR NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOUR, CHINA IS INVOLVED IN SO MUCH OF WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO BUILD FOR THE FUTURE, WE NEED CONTACTS, WE NEED TO BE IN TOUCH WITH THE LEADERSHIP. I WENT UP TO CHINA, MYSELF, IN JANUARY AND I TALKED AMONGST OTHERS, TO PRIME MINISTER LI PENG, AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS TO MAINTAIN THE CONTACT THAT WE NEED FOR THE BENEFIT OF HONG KONG. AND I WOULD SEE MR MAUDE'S VISIT IN THE SAME LIGHT HE'S PROBABLY GOT OTHER THINGS HE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT, WORLD AFFAIRS AND SO ON BUT MY INTEREST IS, OF COURSE, WHAT HE IS GOING TO TALK ABOUT SO FAR AS HONG KONG IS CONCERNED. AND I WOULD SAY, AND I THINK MOST PEOPLE IN HONG KONG WOULD FEEL THIS, THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE SORT OF HIGH-LEVEL CONTACT THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED BY A MINISTER LIKE MR MAUDE GOING TO CHINA AND TALKING THERE DIRECTLY TO THE CHINESE LEADERSHIP ABOUT HONG KONG ISSUES, AMONGST OTHER THINGS.
OLIVER SCOTT:
-
WELL, WE HAVE ANOTHER CALLER NOW FROM HONG KONG, MR
7