MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1992
6
FRANK CHING: HAS THERE BEEN BETWEEN THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE?
GOVERNOR:
I LEAVE THAT TO COMMENTATORS AND HISTORIANS LIKE YOU. WHAT I TRIED TO DO WAS TO FIND A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG ON WHICH MOST PEOPLE MIGHT BE ABLE ΤΟ STAND.
WHETHER OR NOT I'VE CONSTRUCTED THE RIGHT EDIFICE WILL, I GUESS, BE DECIDED IN PART, OR IN WHOLE, BY THE LEGISLATIVE SOME TIME IN THE FIRST PART OF NEXT YEAR.
COUNCIL
FRANK CHING:
YOU HAVEN'T ANSWERED THE QUESTION
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THOUGH
I'M
GOVERNOR:
WELL, I'M NOT VERY KEEN ON GETTING INTO AN ARGUMENT ABOUT HISTORY IN THE LATE 1980S, I'M MUCH MORE INTERESTED WHEN I KNOW THE TEXT AS WELL AS YOU DO I MAY BE BETTER PLACED MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN TRYING TO FIND A WAY FORWARD NOW.
BRIAN CAPLEN (ASIAN BUSINESS): I WONDER IF I COULD ASK YOU ABOUT ANOTHER ROAD-BLOCK, WHICH IS THE AIRPORT. WOULDN'T IT BE A SIMPLER SOLUTION IF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT AGREED TO PUT THE AIRPORT IN SHENZHEN RATHER THAN CHEK LAP KOK, WHICH WOULD COST A LOT LESS MONEY AND WOULD, PRESUMABLY, BE BETTER RECEIVED IN BEIJING?
GOVERNOR:
NO, I DON'T THINK THAT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA. IT WOULD, AMONG OTHER THINGS, INVOLVE THE UNITED KINGDOM RESILING FROM THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING, AND BOTH THE UNITED KINGDOM AND CHINA ARE COMMITTED TO THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WHICH GIVES WHOLEHEARTED SUPPORT BY BOTH PRIME MINISTERS TO THE CASE FOR BUILDING A NEW AIRPORT IN HONG KONG. I DON'T THINK IT WOULD MAKE VERY MUCH SENSE TO HAVE A SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION, AFTER 1997, OUT OF WHICH YOU HAD ΤΟ DRIVE IN ORDER TO GET TO THE AIRPORT. I THINK THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF OTHER DOWNSTREAM ARGUMENTS FOR A NEW AIRPORT FOR HONG KONG, WHICH YOU LEAVE ON ONE SIDE. FOR EXAMPLE, THE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT CASE FOR REPLACING KAI TAK, FOR EXAMPLE THE IMPORTANT SPECIFIC ECONOMIC BENEFITS TO HONG KONG, THE LAND RECLAMATION BENEFITS TO HONG KONG, SO I THINK THERE'S AN OVERWHELMINGLY STRONG CASE FOR AN AIRPORT AT CHEK LAP KOK AND I'M ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED, AS I THINK MOST PEOPLE ARE IN HONG KONG, THAT WE'LL HAVE AN AIRPORT AT CHEK LAP KOK.
QUESTION:
I WONDER IF YOU WERE SURPRISED BY THE RESISTANCE OF MEMBERS OF LEGCO TO ACTUALLY HAVING TO VOTE ON THIS ISSUE AND WHAT YOUR RESPONSE WOULD BE TO MEMBERS OF LEGCO WHO ARE RELUCTANT TO VOTE ON YOUR PROPOSAL?
GOVERNOR:
IT'S OBVIOUSLY A GREAT HONOUR TO BE A MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, AN HONOUR AND A RESPONSIBILITY, AND PEOPLE WHO ARR LEADERS OF THE COMMUNITY DO HAVE TO TAKE A SHARE IN DETERMINING THE FUTURE OF THAT COMMUNITY. I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT ANYBODY WOULD WANT TO BE IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL WHO DIDN'T WANT TO DISCHARGE THE RESPONSIBILITIES WHICH BEING PART OF A LEGISLATURE BRINGS.
SO I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW ANYBODY COULD SAY, "WELL, WE'LL BE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BUT WE DON'T WANT TO BE AROUND IF THERE'S EVER A DIFFICULT DECISION TO MAKE. WHAT LEADERSHIP IN A COMMUNITY AMOUNTS TO, FOR THE GOVERNOR AND FOR THE SENIOR MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT, FOR THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, FOR THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, IS FACING UP ΤΟ LONG AGENDA OF TOUGH CHOICES, WHICH IS WHAT POLITICS AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IS ALL ABOUT.
THE
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/I'M SURE