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I also took the opportunity to raise with President Ramos the one cloud over the otherwise fine relationship between Hong Kong and the Philippines, namely the position of Mr Au and Mr Wong who have been in prison since 1991 in Manila. I also sent one of my staff to see Mr Au and Mr Wong to underline to them the concern we have for their case, and to report to them my discussion with President Ramos. As honourable members know, there is a great deal of concern in the community about this case, as well as in this Council and in the media. I intend to continue to take a close interest in what happens to Mr Au and Mr Wong. We will be keeping in touch with the case and with the Filipino authorities. Mr Au and Mr Wong will continue to receive regular visits from the British Embassy, who report back to us. President Ramos assured me that he understood the concern in Hong Kong about the case and would be contacting the Justice Ministry about it. I told Mr Ramos that we had no wish to interfere in the judicial process in the Philippines. We were asking for that judicial process to take place as rapidly as possible as both Mr Au and Mr Wong have been waiting for a very, very long time. I think that no one in the Philippines or in the Filipino government will have been surprised at our concern about two of our citizens, given the concern which the Filipino authorities themselves have expressed about the position of Filipinos in difficulties overseas.
So, I repeat, a useful, busy, visit. I will be happy now to take questions from honourable members.
Mr Cheung Man-kwong (in Chinese): Mr President, I have a question for the Governor. Hong Kong's economic prosperity depends on the rule of law and as we all know, yesterday the Beijing Procuratorate gave Wei Jingsheng 14 years of imprisonment for subversion and this to the outside world is very rash and Hong Kong people have worries about the rule of law after 1997.
Previously there was an agreement between the two sovereign states on the Court of Final Appeal and it cannot touch on anything that is related to defence and foreign affairs and also acts of state, and as a result Hong Kong will be affected. And according to our ordinance, when we talk about subversion it might be considered acts of state and therefore it cannot be taken up in Hong Kong courts and as a result there will be political trials similar to Wei Jingsheng case in Hong Kong after 1997.
Will the Government do anything to alleviate our fears and will anything be done to reflect the worries of Hong Kong people?
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