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Question: Will the Hong Kong Government be seeking guarantee that there will be through train for persons through the draft legislation?
Governor: What we will be doing is, I hope, confirming at the JLG meeting this week that China stands by the agreement that China made in 1991. We think that it's extremely important for confidence in the future that there shouldn't be questions raised about Hong Kong's institutions, about Hong Kong's judges, about matters like right of abode and immigration issues. How can it possibly be conducive to confidence and stability to raise questions about those matters.
Question: Do you think that this is a blow to the establishment of the CFA and it will add some difficulties in the recruitment of judges to the CFA?
Governor: If Chinese officials were to say now that Article 93 no longer applied, it wouldn't just have an impact on the recruitment of judges in the future. It would have an impact on the whole rule of law. So, I very much hope that the confusion that has been created can be quickly sorted out and the best place to do that is in the Joint Liaison Group where the Court of Final Appeal will be discussed this week. We are extremely concerned to ensure that the rule of law continues to apply in Hong Kong. When people talk about our system, what they mean above all is the rule of law and it's the rule of law and it's the existence of a level playing field for business which as much as anything, makes Hong Kong a success, keeps Hong Kong prosperous. When people say to us: perhaps after 1997, this or that sort of things which happen elsewhere in the region will happen in Hong Kong. We say: no, that is not possible because we, in Hong Kong, have the rule of law. So, nothing matters more to us than to secure
the maintenance of the rule of law and I don't think it's helpful to raised question marks about it.
Question: The Deputy Premier Qian Qichen has reiterated that the co-operation with the Hong Kong Government and the PWC is the pre-requisite of the Sino-British co- operation. Do you have any new idea in mind to have better co-operation with the PWC?
Governor: No. I don't. We have set out in detail the sensible ways in which we are prepared to co-operate with PWC members and inform PWC members and that, of course, has been happening as you've been reporting. Beyond that we have, since the last JLG meeting, JLGXXX in September, in a large number of ways put forward ideas for co-operation, given China information which China says it wants in order to help prepare the way for the SAR Government. All that will be made clear at the JLG meeting this week. Inevitably, there will come a time when people will look at the balance sheet and they will say: look at all these things the Hong Kong Government is doing and what's on the other side of the account. And I hope that people will remember that co-operation is a two-way street. We are cheerfully marching down our side of the street and I hope that others are coming toward us.