SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1994
TRANSCRIPT OF GOVERNOR'S MEDIA SESSION
GOVERNOR, AIRPORT
THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEDIA SESSION BY THE THE RT HON CHRISTOPHER PATTEN, AT THE HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL THIS (SUNDAY) EVENING AFTER HIS RETURN FROM HIS OFFICIAL VISIT TO THE WEST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES:
GOVERNOR: SORRY TO HAVE KEPT YOU WAITING. THE HEADWINDS HELD US UP AND WE WERE LATE STARTING FROM SEATTLE AS WELL AND I AM SORRY IF IT'S RUINED YOUR SUNDAY EVENING. I'VE HAD A SUCCESSFUL AND BUSY VISIT TO THE WEST COAST. THE MAIN PURPOSE WAS TO GIVE FOUR KEY-NOTE SPEECHES IN ORANGE COUNTY, LOS ANGELES, SAN FRANCISCO AND SEATTLE. WHILE WE › WERE THERE, WE ADDRESSED VERY BIG AUDIENCES WHICH, I THINK, WAS A MARK OF THE INTEREST IN, AND ENTHUSIASM ABOUT, WHAT'S HAPPENING IN HONG KONG. I ALSO HAD A NUMBER OF MEETINGS WITH SENIOR OFFICIALS, THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA, THE MAJORS OF LOS ANGELES AND SEATTLE AND HAD MANY MEETINGS AS WELL WITH LEADING BUSINESS FIGURES INCLUDING SOME OF THOSE WHO INVEST SUBSTANTIALLY IN HONG KONG. WE HAVE A STRONG AND CLOSE ECONOMIC AND TRADING RELATIONSHIP WITH CALIFORNIA AND WITH SEATTLE AND WASHINGTON STATE AND WE ALSO HAVE A POINT THAT WAS BORNE IN ON ME INCREASINGLY DURING MY VISIT, A GROWING AND SHARED COMMITMENT TO FREE TRADE AND TO PREVENTING AN OUTBURST OF PROTECTIONISM IN NORTH AMERICA, IN EUROPE OR ELSEWHERE. AND THE MESSAGE THAT I CONVEYED ABOUT FREE TRADE BROUGHT, I THINK, AN ECHO ESPECIALLY IN MY LAST SPEECHES IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND IN SEATTLE. PEOPLE DO OBVIOUSLY ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE. PEOPLE DO OBVIOUSLY ASK FOR REASSURANCE ABOUT 1997 AND I WAS PLEASED TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY OF SETTING OUT MY OPTIMISM ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG AND I HOPE BY DEEDS AND WORDS, OTHERS WILL MAKE CLEAR THAT THEY CAN GIVE REASSURANCE TOO ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG. I THINK THAT THE AGREEMENT REACHED IN THE LAND COMMISSION LAST WEEK AND THE AGREEMENT ON FUNDING FOR THE AIRPORT RAILWAY REACHED AT THE END OF THE WEEK WERE BOTH EXTREMELY GOOD SIGNS FOR INVESTORS, BOTH MADE IMPORTANT STATEMENTS ABOUT THE FUTURE PROSPERITY STABILITY OF HONG KONG AND WE HOPE WE WILL SEE FURTHER SIGNS IN THE COMING MONTHS.
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THE
QUESTION: MR PATTEN, HOW WOULD YOU LIKE LEGISLATORS' IDEA TO HAVE DIRECTOR OF AUDIT LOOKING TO YOUR FOREIGN TRIPS, I MEAN, YOUR OVERSEAS TRIPS AND SEE IF THERE IS A WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY?
TO DO.
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THEY ARE HIS LAST SIMILARITY..
GOVERNOR: WELL, IT WOULD BE AN INTERESTING THING FOR THEM EVERYTHING THE GOVERNOR DOES IN HONG KONG IS OPEN TO PUBLIC SCRUTINY. I AM SURE THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THEY WOULD DISCOVER WAS THAT IF YOU PUT TOGETHER THE INVITATIONS I'VE RECEIVED FOR NEXT YEAR AS WELL AS THIS YEAR AND ADDED UP ALL THE TRIPS THAT I WOULD HAVE DONE AS GOVERNOR IN MY FIRST THREE AND HALF YEARS AS GOVERNOR, EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE NUMBER OF TRIPS THAT WERE MADE IN THREE AND HALF YEARS BY MY PREDECESSOR. THERE IS UNCANNY WHICH IS IN THE FIGURE FOR MY TRIPS AND THE NUMBER FOR HIS IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG, THE CHIEF SECRETARY, THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY PUT ACROSS THE MESSAGE ABOUT HONG KONG SUCCESS AS FREQUENTLY AND AS VIGOROUSLY AS POSSIBLE. IF YOU TALK TO ANY OF YOUR COLLEAGUES WHO'RE ACCOMPANYING US ON THIS VISIT, THEY WOULD, I AM SURE,
CONFIRM FOR YOU JUST HOW HARD WE WERE WORKING BUT I VERY MUCH HOPE THAT THE FACTS ABOUT THE NUMBER OF VISITS THAT I'VE MADE AND OTHER SENIOR OFFICIALS'VE MADE WILL BE FAITHFULLY REPORTED AND NOT JUST THE SORT OF ASSERTION WHICH YOU REFERRED TO.
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TRIPS AND
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