7
MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1992
QUESTION:
IF I MAY FOLLOW UP ON CLAUDIA'S
QUESTION: I'VE BEEN INTERESTED TO KNOW HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW ABOUT THE WAY YOU HANDLED THE GREEN PAPER OF 1987 ON POLITICAL REFORMS - WHETHER THERE SHOULD BE DIRECT-ELECTIONS IN 1988? BECAUSE AS YOU MAY KNOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE IN HONG KONG FELT AT THAT TIME THAT THE GOVERNMENT WAS MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION AND THAT THE SURVEYS WERE GAUGED IN SUCH A WAY AS ΤΟ ELICIT A PARTICULAR RESPONSE.
GOVERNOR:
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I FEEL, ON THAT, THAT THE 1987-88 EXERCISE, THAT THAT DID COME UP WITH THE RIGHT ANSWER AT THAT TIME. AND AS I SEE IT, THERE WAS QUITE A SHIFT OF OPINION AFTER THAT, AND IT WAS THEREFORE RIGHT FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO RESPOND TO THAT SHIFT OF OPINION AFTERWARDS AND MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS. AND AS YOU KNOW AS EVERYBODY KNOWS
WE MADE A SIGNIFICANT ADJUSTMENT UPWARDS IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF DIRECTLY ELECTED SEATS. I DON'T FEEL THAT 1987-88, AS YOU WOULD PUT IT, WAS AN ATTEMPT TO MANIPULATE PUBLIC OPINION, IT WAS A VERY SERIOUS ATTEMPT TO TRY TO FIND OUT WHAT PUBLIC OPINION WAS. THE WHOLE TIME, AND THIS IS NOT JUST A QUESTION OF DIRECT ELECTIONS. BUT GIVEN THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT WE'VE GOT, WE HAVE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO ASSESS, AS BEST WE CAN, WHAT GENUINE OPINION IS RIGHT ACROSS THE BOARD. AND IT IS NOT EASY BECAUSE ON ANY ISSUE, AND PARTICULARLY SOMETHING, I THINK, LIKE DEMOCRACY AND DIRECT ELECTIONS, YOU GET VERY VOCIFEROUS GROUPS AT EACH END OF THE SPECTRUM, AND THEN YOU HAVE TO TRY TO ASSESS WHAT ARE THE OPINIONS OF THOSE WHO OFTEN DON'T EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS, AND THAT IS NOT AN EASY TASK. BUT FOR MY PART, I THINK THAT 87-88 WAS A SENSIBLE ANSWER AT THAT TIME, BUT ALSO THAT IT WAS RIGHT TO MAKE THE LATER ADJUSTMENT, AS WE DID.
QUESTION:
CHINA AND BRITAIN HAVE BOTH RATIFIED 'CEDAW' CONVENTION FOR THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION WOMEN'
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'THE AGAINST WHAT IS YOUR ASSURANCES YOU GIVE WOMEN, THAT THE POLITICAL WILL EXISTS TO THE EXTENSION OF 'CEDAW' TO HONG KONG, AND THAT THE APPROPRIATE MACHINERY, SAY A COMMISSION FOR WOMEN, WOULD BE SET UP UNDER AN INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATION?
GOVERNOR:
WERE YOU NOT THE PERSON WHO FLOORED ME LAST YEAR? WERE YOU NOT THEN A CORRESPONDENT FROM LIVERPOOL?
AND
QUESTION:
WELL I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE TOO LONG IF I RECITED ALL THE LIVERPOOL DATA.
GOVERNOR :
THAT'S RIGHT, YES, I THOUGHT SO, WE HAVE GOT A GROUP WHICH IS WORKING ON THIS. THE FIRST THING IS TO LOOK AT WHAT FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION THERE ARE NOW, AND THEN WHAT IS RIGHT IN THE CONTEXT OF HONG KONG ABOUT CHANGING THAT SITUATION - SHOULD WE SIMPLY RATIFY 'CEDAW' OR SHOULD WE DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT? ALL I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT THAT WORKING GROUP AND IT IS A WORKING GROUP INSIDE THE
GOVERNMENT
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IS THERE, IS OPERATING, FIRST OF ALL TRYING TO IDENTIFY WHAT FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION, WHERE THEY ARE, AND THEN WHAT SORT OF MEASURES MIGHT BE TAKEN TO DEAL WITH IT,
QUESTION:
LORD WILSON, THE MAYOR OF SHENZHEN TOLD A GROUP OF VISITING JOURNALISTS LAST WEEK THAT DISCUSSIONS ARE GOING ON BETWEEN THE SHENZHEN AUTHORITIES AND THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT ON LIBERALISING CUSTOMS CONTROLS AT THE BORDER. COULD YOU TELL US WHAT IS IN THE WORKS? AND DO YOU ENVISAGE A SITUATION, AFTER 1997, WHERE THE LO WU BORDER WILL COME CRUMBLING DOWN LIKE THE BERLIN WALL?
/GOVERNOR: