Transcript of Chief Secretary's media session
The following is a transcript of what the Chief Secretary, Mrs Anson Chan, said to the media at the airport on her return from Europe today (Saturday):
Chief Secretary: Hello everyone, very good to see you. I've just paid a week-long visit to Brussels, the Hague and Bonn, met with the Belgian and Dutch Prime Ministers, had very useful discussions with them and also with the president, the vice-president of the European Commission. I've also met with members of the European Parliament and with various business leaders.
I was very encouraged by the degree of interest that all these people showed in Hong Kong. They all have a very clear appreciation of what we are attempting to do in Hong Kong to prepare for a smooth transition. They expressed great interest in Hong Kong both now and after 1997. But also at the same time made it very clear that they were concerned that our current systems, our business environment and our way of life and, in particular, the rule of law can all be maintained after 1997. So in the context of my discussions we discussed where we currently stood on the Court of Final Appeal on which there is a great deal of interest and understandably so from our trading partners and business leaders and I expressed the hope that we would soon reach an agreement with the Chinese on the Court of Final Appeal going forward to enable us to get the necessary legislation enacted.
I also took the opportunity to express the hope that after 1997, our European countries might see it fit to continue to grant visa-free travel to Hong Kong people because it is extremely important in terms of facilitating trade and facilitating tourism. There was also interest in other transitional issues. So on the whole very useful series of discussions and I'm very much encouraged by the response that I've received from all whom I came to contact with.
End/Saturday, April 29, 1995