TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1991
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MR HURD: I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE DETAILS OF THE DISCUSSIONS BECAUSE THEY ARE STILL GOING ON AND OBVIOUSLY IT WOULDN'T BR SENSIBLE ΤΟ DO So.
I THINK ONE CAN ONLY TALK OF CONCESSIONS WHEN THERE HAS ACTUALLY BREN SOME SORT OF AGREEMENT AND WE HAVE NOT YRT REACHED AGREEMENT. NO, I HAVE NEVER SET A DEADLINE OR ISSUED AN ULTIMATUM, SIMPLY STATED A FACT THAT FOR THE AIRPORT PROJECT TO PROCEED ACCORDING TO
THE TIMETABLE WHICH THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT PLANNED, THERE WILL NEED TO BE A MEASURE OF SUPPORT FROM CHINA. THAT IS NOT A POLITICAL STATEMENT, THAT IS NOT A THREAT OR AN ULTIMATUM, IT IS A STATEMENT OF ECONOMIC FACT, AND I HAVEN'T MET ANYONE IN HONG KONG, BITHER YESTERDAY OR TODAY OR WHEN I WAS HERE LAST WEEK WHO QUESTIONED THAT FACT, THAT IS A STATEMENT OF FACT, IT'S PART OF THE BACKGROUND.
JOHN ELLIOTT (FINANCIAL TIMES): COULD YOU SAY A BIT MORE ABOUT THE PROBLEMS THAT HAVE BEEN FACED IN THE TALKS IN PEKING? 1S THE BASIC PROBLEM TO DO WITH THE AIRPORT AS A TOTAL PLAN AS TO THE AMOUNT OP MONEY TO BE SPENT ON IT, THE DESIGN OF IT? OR IS IT TO DO WITH CHINA'S CONTINUING CONTROL AND INFLUENCE ON THAT PROJECT IN THE COMING YBARS?
MR HURD: THE DIFFERENCES HAVE NOT BEEN ENTIRELY ABOUT SUMS OF MONEY. THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES AND WHEN I SAID THEY HAD RBBED AND FLOWED WHAT I MEANT BY THAT WAS THAT IN SOME DISCUSSIONS IT LOOKED AS IF THE DIFFERENCES WERE BECOMING RESOLVED AND IN OTHERS IT DID NOT; THAT IS WHAT I MEANT BY THE EBB AND FLOW OF DISCUSSION, AND THE DISCUSSION COVERED CERTAIN FINANCIAL MATTERS AND CERTAIN OTHER MATTERS. WE WERE GUIDED AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE GUIDED BY THE TWO PRINCIPLES WHICH I HAVE JUST SET OUT WHICH SEEM TO ME CRUCIAL.
JOHN ELLIOTT (FINANCIAL TIMES): CAN I JUST FOLLOW UP? DOES THAT INDICATE THEN THAT THE BASIC PROBLEM IS THAT CHINA WANTS A CONTINUING SAY IN THE FINANCES AND THE RUNNING OF THE ECONOMY OF HONG KONG WHICH YOU ARE NOT PREPARED TO FACE? AND HOW DO YOU SEE THAT IN TERMS OF THE PRICE OF POLITICAL CONTROL THE PHRASE YOU USED YOURSELF LAST WEEK?
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MR HURD: I'M NOT GOING TO GO INTO THE SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS MADE FROM THE CHINESE SIDE OR THE SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS MADE FROM OUR SIDE. I THINK IT WOULD BE FAIR TO SAY THAT THE CHINESE ARE NOT SEEKING WHAT YOU CALL A CONTINUING CONTROL. WE HAVEN'T YET REACHED AN AGREEMENT ON POINTS WHICH 1 REGARD AS ESSENTIAL UNDER THE TWO PRINCIPLES I'VE MENTIONED.
KAREN CHENG (COMMERCIAL RADIO): YOU HAVE SAID THAT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES HAVE BEEN NARROWED, SO WHAT SORT OF DIFFERENCES HAVE BEEN NARROWED AND ALSO WILL THERE BE ANY CHANCE THAT THE AIRPORT PROJECT MAY BE SCRAPPED?
MR HURD: I'M SORRY TO HAVE TO STONEWALL BUT I AM NOT IN FACT, BECAUSE DISCUSSIONS ARE CONTINUING, TO GIVE DETAILS OF WHERE THE POINTS OF DIFFERENCE HAVE BEEN OR WHERE THE POINTS OF DIFFERENCE REMAIN. NO, THE AIRPORT PROJECT HAS OF COURSE NOT BEEN SCRAPPED; WE HOPE THAT AGREEMENT CAN BE REACHED, THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF CONTINUING THE DISCUSSIONS. IF IT IS NOT REACHED THEN IT WILL NOT BR POSSIBLE FOR THE PROJECT TO PROCEED ACCORDING TO THE TIMETABLE WHICH THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT PLANNED.
/HUMPHREY HAWSLEY