4-
Question: But, how do you think when the Chinese Government said that, accused that it is the Hong Kong Government which does not co-operate with the Chinese side?
Governor: What I say is that there are six million people here in Hong Kong who know the truth.
Question: About the exemption of the visa, because Chinese officials said that they would like the UK to exempt the holder of the visa of the future SAR Government?
Governor: There is a whole basket of immigration, right of abode, visa issues which we want to sort out. Fundamental to them all is, of course, aligning our Immigration Ordinance with the provisions of the Basic Law. We put forward proposals on that, I think, over two years ago and, to be honest, we haven't made as much progress on those issues as we would like though we are totally ready for talks at any time, in the greatest detail with Chinese officials on that. So, we want to see us dealings with all those issues, they are all intimately connected and they are all very important for the future because people want to know whether they are going to be able to stay, whether we can come back, what their status will be if they do. Those are important issues and again like the rule of law, they are pretty fundamental to the future of Hong Kong.
Question: Just about the visit today, Governor. I think it's the first visit by a Governor of Hong Kong to South Korea.
Governor: It is the first visit to Seoul and my first visit as well. So, I am particularly looking forward to it. We have a substantial trade relationship with Korea. We are among each other's most important trading partners and beyond that, we have direct investment links as well. There is substantial investment by Hong Kong in Korea and substantial investment by Korea in Hong Kong. There are many Korean firms here in Hong Kong, a number of them with their regional headquarters. One manifestation of
the importance of the Korean community here in Hong Kong is the Korean International School which I opened a few months ago, which is providing a very important part of the infrastructure for the Korean community. We've got a lot to talk about. Korea is fast becoming one of the most important economies in the world. Korea, like us, is committed to liberalisation in trade and economic matters, is committed to globalisation to playing on the world stage as we are in Hong Kong. Korea, like us, believes in the rule of law and a free press. So, we have very much in common and we've worked together successfully in APEC, for example, at the recent Summit of Economic Leaders in Indonesia. We are, as I said in addition, supporting the bid by Minister Kim to become the Director-General of the WTO, All those are reasons and strong ones for us for making this visit. I'm only sorry that it is short as it is. Thank you very much indeed.
End/Sunday, December 11, 1994