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Question: So you are not sure whether he will meet you or Mrs Anson Chan?
Governor: No. And I suppose given the way these things are invariably conducted, not by us but by others that we won't know until the last minute. I first wrote to Director Lu last month. I've already communicated the message to him orally through the Ambassador last February. The Hong Kong place is pretty good and normally one gets reply pretty swiftly to letters we sent.
Question: When will the Government discuss the pension scheme, the new proposal with the Chinese side?
Governor: We've been discussing it. We've been discussing it with Chinese officials. I was a bit surprised by the remarks of somebody who was said to be a spokesman for the New China News Agency yesterday on the MPF. I wonder whether he'd seen earlier statements by the New China News Agency, by the Director about the MPF. The New China News Agency and its Director not very long ago said no in capitals to the pension scheme, the old age pension scheme. Now we have a spokesman yesterday saying no to the MPF. The truth of the matter is that what the Legislative Council wants us to do and the community wants us to do and what we are going to do is put an end to all the years of argument and get on with things. The legislation that we are talking about in this session is an enabling legislation. It doesn't complete the whole administrative work of establishing the MPF. It makes it possible to establish an MPF. I have no doubt at all that all the difficult detail, the detail about the monetary implications, the detail about exactly how the scheme will work has to be discussed with those who have the interests of the future SAR Government at heart, so they tell us. That I have no doubt about it at all. But the future SAR Government is not going to thank us if we simply put off decisions and don't make it possible to go ahead with an MPF. And so we are keen on the enabling legislation going through. And I repeat it's enabling, it doesn't end the argument, it doesn't mean that we won't have plenty of opportunities to discuss all the details of the scheme with the community and with Chinese officials. That's what I want to happen and that's what will happen.
Question: Do you see any need to seek Chinese endorsement before tabling the Bill to Legco?
Governor: I see every need and every sense in discussing with Chinese officials on what is going to be in the legislation. They have an interest in that. But I don't think that it's in the interest of Hong Kong for us to simply say just because of one statement by the New China News Agency there is nothing we can do for the elderly people of Hong Kong. There is nothing we can do in order to end the years of uncertainty about financial provision for the elderly people of Hong Kong. Nobody would thank the Governor or the Chief Secretary or the administration or the New China News Agency in 10 or 20 or 30 years if we delay by another three years the establishment of decent financial arrangements for our elderly people in Hong Kong.