THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1993
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GOVERNOR SPEAKS TO PRESS AFTER MEETING LIBERAL PARTY
GOVERNOR : I HAD A VERY INTERESTING MEETING WITH ALLEN LEE AND RONALD ARCULLI. I WAS PLEASED THAT THEY'D TAKEN THE TROUBLE SO QUICKLY AFTER THEIR VISIT TO PEKING TO COME AND TO TELL ME ABOUT THE DISCUSSIONS THEY HAD AND ABOUT THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHINESE POSITION, I WANT TO MAKE ONE THING ABSOLUTELY PLAIN THAT WE WANT AN AGREEMENT. WE ARE WORKING EXTREMELY HARD TO HAVE AN AGREEMENT BECAUSE AS I SAID THE OTHER DAY, IN OUR JUDGMENT, AN AGREEMENT WOULD BE A BIG DEAL. NOW, IF IT'S THE CHINESE POSITION THAT IN ORDER TO HELP CONCENTRATE ATTENTION ON THE VERY BIG ISSUES, THEY'D BE HAPPY TO AGREE WITH US NOW ON SOME ISSUES WHICH SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY STRAIGHT-FORWARD LIKE THE VOTING AGE, LIKE THE VOTING METHOD, LIKE THE DISTRICT BOARDS/ MUNICIPAL COUNCILS ELECTIONS. IT IS THEIR POSITION NOW IF THEY AGREE WITH US ON THOSE THINGS SO WE CAN CONCENTRATE ON OTHER MATTERS, THEN I HOPE THAT POINT WILL BE PUT VERY CLEARLY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT ROUND OF TALKS. BUT OBVIOUSLY WE WILL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE WHAT THEY SAY IN THE NEGOTIATING ROOM BECAUSE THAT POINT HASN'T BEEN PUT TO US YET. WE HAD 13 ROUNDS OF TALKS, I THINK, GETTING ON FOR 120 HOURS. ALL THE ISSUES HAD BEEN DISCUSSED AT VERY CONSIDERABLE LENGTH AND UNFORTUNATELY, NO AGREEMENT YET, NOT EVEN AN AGREEMENT, AS I'VE SAID BEFORE, ON THE VOTING AGE. IT SHOULDN'T BE TOO MUCH OF A PROBLEM BUT IF CHINESE NEGOTIATORS ARE NOW HAPPY TO AGREE WITH US ON A NUMBER OF THOSE MATTERS, AND THEN FINE. ONE OTHER ISSUE THAT I'D JUST LIKE TO MAKE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, OUR NEGOTIATORS, OUR TEAM, WORK VERY HARD. THEY GO UP TO PEKING ONCE A WEEK OR ONCE A FORTNIGHT AND WORK VERY HARD WHEN THEY ARE THERE. I AM SURE THAT THEY'D BE PREPARED TO WORK EVEN HARDER IF THE CHINESE TEAM WANTED TO JOIN THEM IN THAT ENDEAVOUR. I AM SURE IF THE CHINESE SIDE SAID "LOOK, BECAUSE OF THE TIME PRESSURE WHICH WE UNDERSTAND, WE'LL WORK NIGHT AND DAY OVER THE NEXT DAYS, OVER THE NEXT WEEKS", I AM SURE THAT OUR NEGOTIATORS WOULD
BE HAPPY ΤΟ RESPOND THEMSELVES. THE TROUBLE 1S WE ALREADY HAD A LOT OF TALKING AND KE STILL HAVEN'T REACHED AN AGREEMENT. BUT FOR OUR SIDE, WE'RE STILL TRYING, WE'RE STILL TRYING VERY HARD.
QUESTION : (INAUDIBLE)
GOVERNOR : WHAT WE ARE PREPARED TO DO, AS I SAID YESTERDAY, IS то ACCEPT ANY PROPOSAL FROM THE CHINESE SIDE, TO AGREE WITH US ON THE DISTRICT BOARD ELECTIONS OR THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS. BUT I AM AFRAID THAT IT IS A BIT OF A RED HERRING IF YOU ARE SUGGESTING THAT DE-COUPLING, TO USE THE TERM OF ART, WOULD SUDDENLY BUY US MORE TIME. THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS WE DON'T HAVE VERY MUCH MORE TIME. THE DISTRICT BOARD ELECTIONS AREN'T REALLY THE PROBLEM. MOST OF THE ISSUES RELATING TO THE DISTRICT BOARD ELECTIONS ARE ALREADY COVERED BY THE DISTRICT BOARD ORDINANCE. THERE ARE SOME THINGS WHICH CREATE A PROBLEM AS FAR AS DISTRICT BOARD ELECTIONS ARE CONCERNED, LIKE THE VOTING AGE BUT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM, THE BIGGEST DIFFICULTY THAT WE HAVE IS OVER THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS THAT WE'VE GOT TO GET LEGISLATION ON THOSE THROUGH BY NEXT THE REASONS THAT WE'VE EXPLAINED. WE ARE NOT TRYING то FENCES. WHAT WE'RE DOING, IF ANYTHING, IS TAKING RISKS ON SIDE. BUT, WE'VE GOT TO GET THAT THROUGH BY JULY SO THAT THE AND ELECTION COMMISSION CAN START WORK ON THE SUBSIDARY LEGISLATION ON ISSUES LIKE DRAWING UP THE VOTER REGISTER FOR THE FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES IN THE AUTUMN OF NEXT YEAR. SO IT'S THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS WHICH IMPOSE THE REAL TIME PRESSURES AND TO THAT EXTENT, ARGUMENTS ABOUT THE DISTRICT BOARDS ARE SLIGHTLY IRRELEVANT.
JULY FOR RUSH ANY THE OTHER BOUNDARY
/QUESTION