30
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8,
1992
QUESTION:
MR PATTEN, I'VE LISTENED TO YOUR POLICY SPEECH AND NOTHING WAS MENTIONED ABOUT REPATRIATION OF VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE. IN THE PAST TEN YEARS HONG KONG HAS SPENT OVER $2.2 BILLION ON THE BOAT PEOPLE AND THE GOVERNMENT'S PROMISED TO REPATRIATE THEM WITHIN
3 YEARS, WHEREAS WE HAVE ASKED THE GOVERNMENT TO REPATRIATE THEM
WITHIN 2 YEARS. NOW WILL THE GOVERNMENT HONOUR THEIR WORD AND REPATRIATE THEM SPEEDILY AND SWIFTLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE?
T
A STRONG
IN THE LAST
NUMBER 2, ABOUT THE MAINTENANCE OF INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY. HONG KONG HAS KEPT ITS JUDICIARY DECADE IT ALMOST REMAINED UNCHANGED. WHAT STEPS WILL THE GOVERNOR TAKE TO STRENGTHEN AND PRESERVE THE STRONG INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY IN THE COMING FIVE YEARS?
GOVERNOR:
FIRST OF ALL, I DIDN'T MENTION VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE IN MY SPEECH BECAUSE, IN MY JUDGMENT, THAT IS A PROBLEM WHICH THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG HAVE HANDLED WITH CONSIDERABLE GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT AND GREAT COMPETENCE IN THE LAST FEW YEARS. WE NOW HAVE A SITUATION IN WHICH LARGELY BECAUSE OF VOLUNTARY RETURNS HOME THE NUMBER OF VIETNAMESE IN OUR CAMPS HAS FALLEN TO BELOW 50,000 AND EACH MONTH ABOUT ANOTHER 1,000 ARE RETURNED VOLUNTARILY. IN ADDITION, A NUMBER ARE GOING UNDER THE ORDERLY REPATRIATION SCHEME WHICH OF COURSE WE PLAYED A VERY SIGNIFICANT PART IN HELPING TO NEGOTIATE.
SO THE PROBLEM IS BECOMING, I'M PLEASED TO SAY, LESS ACUTE. WE ARE GOING ΤΟ BE ABLE, FOR INSTANCE, TO CLOSE A CAMP SHORTLY, WHICH WILL ALLOW US TO PUT ANOTHER 200 POLICEMEN AND POLICEWOMEN ON OUR STREETS WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT STEP FORWARD, AND WE WILL CONTINUE ΤΟ PRESS FOR THE SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION TO THE POLICY. WHAT WILL MAKE THE GREATEST DIFFERENCE, IN MY JUDGMENT, IS AS IT BECOMES CLEAR TO THOSE IN THE CAMPS THAT THE VIETNAMESE ECONOMY IS BEGINNING TO IMPROVE AND MANY HONG KONG BUSINESSMEN ARE PLAYING A SIGNIFICANT PART IN THAT. I HOPE THAT IT'S POSSIBLE TO SEE FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES.
THE
ON THE SECOND QUESTION YOU RAISED, THAT IS STRENGTHENING OF THE JUDICIARY, WE WILL, AS YOU KNOW, OVER THE COMING MONTHS HAVE TO CONSIDER THE ISSUE OF THE COURT OF FINAL APPEAL, ON WHICH I ANSWERED A QUESTION IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY. BUT I AM KEEN TO SEE US MOVE FURTHER IN LOCALISING THE JUDICIARY, I'M KEEN TO SEE US DO MORE TO STRENGTHEN THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE IN HONG KONG.
FOR EXAMPLE, I'M VERY INTERESTED IN THE PROPOSALS THAT ARE BEING DISCUSSED BETWEEN THE EXISTING JUDICIARY AND THE BAR COUNCIL FOR ESTABLISHING A BROADER BASED DEPUTY JUDGE SYSTEM WHICH WOULD ENABLE LOCAL BARRISTERS TO GET A TASTE OF WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A JUDGE AND ENCOURAGE MANY MORE OF THEM TO GO ON THE BENCH.
/QUESTION: MR