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Question (follow-up in Chinese): Now, if it is illegal in Hong Kong and then they just hide in China without coming back to Hong Kong for years, then what is your view on that, and how are we going to deal with these cases?
Governor: Well, it is very difficult for us to deal with things that happen in China. I think what you're saying is that sometimes people who work a great deal in China have a wife here and a wife in China, and that creates huge problems. It creates problems for both wives, and it creates in the end, problems for the children as well. And there are obviously financial problems when the husband involved has to meet the financial consequences of two lots of kids. I think that that is extremely sad and we shouldn't do anything here in Hong Kong which makes it more likely. But it is quite difficult for us to legislate for people's immoral or amoral behaviour when they are away from home.
Question (in Chinese): I and my family are troubled by some problems. I've been in Hong Kong for more than 50 years and for known reasons I have to emigrate elsewhere, but then I would like to keep my permanent resident status in Hong Kong. But I've heard there are some saying that if you have emigrated elsewhere and if you come back to Hong Kong after the 1st July 1997, then you lose your Hong Kong permanent residency status. And I understand, after the publication of the Joint Declaration in the eighties, there was already an exercise to change our ID Cards and on the ID Card there is proof that people have a permanent right of abode in Hong Kong. If that is the case, if we adopt the proposals put forward by the Preliminary Working Committee that means we returnees will lose our residency status. But when the Government issued us with new ID Cards we were given the right of abode in Hong Kong. So, I would like to ask you, Mr Governor, to help us resolve this problem because the Joint Declaration ...
Governor: with China over the next just under two years, the most important for people's peace of mind is probably right of abode and related issues about travel, about visas and so on. We've been negotiating very hard with Chinese officials on the question of right of abode. The 1997 cut-off is one of the proposals which is on the table. There are lots of objections to it, many of which have been put by those who are customarily regarded as being in the united front camp here in Hong Kong, who have gone up to Peking and set out some of their objections to the proposal. I can assure you that we will go on arguing the case for Hong Kong, for people like you, and I hope at the end of the day we can come off with a decent and sensible agreement because it is very important for, I should think, the overwhelming majority of families here in Hong Kong.