L
7
(Outside the Russell Building)
QUESTION: Just one question.
GOVERNOR PATTEN:
Yes.
TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1993
QUESTION: What's the impression you are
forming? The dinner last night must have been helpful. Are you getting the impression that it's going to be conditional, it's going to be put off? What are you forming?
GOVERNOR PATTEN: Well, I tell you what I am forming, a very clear impression about American concerns:
American concerns about the huge Chinese trade surplus,
American concerns about human rights, and American
concerns, which I think have been growing and growing very
rapidly over the last year, about weapons proliferation.
Now, in those circumstances what I think we have
to do is to make sure that the U.S. officials who are
making policy and U.S. legislators, understand our
concerns and understand the importance of trade as freely
conducted as possible to the improvement of the quality of
living of people in China, as well as to the economic
position of Hong Kong.
on
It's a moving situation. It's not exactly the
same as it would have been lobbying last year, where a
President had made absolutely clear where he stood and,
the whole, was having to repel a Congress which was taking
a slightly different point of view. Things have changed
since then, and my impression is the administration is
looking for as broad a consensus between the
administration and Congress as possible.
/But I