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I'm not Mr Au or Mr Wong's lawyer; I'm not a member of their family. What I want to do is to help them rather than to make a very, very difficult position worse. I think that it has had some impact on their health and obviously a considerable impact on them rather than that of their friends and families, and the sooner it can be resolved one way or the other, the better.
Question: Is a prisoner exchange a possibility - from Hong Kong's perspective?
Governor: I don't quite understand why one or two people have been raising this issue, since prisoner exchange does not deal with the question of the appeal against the sentence. That is the issue. And I don't honestly think that prisoner exchange is something which has been put by them, and it certainly hasn't been put to me. I want to underline the point: it has not been put to me by the Government.
Question: Mr Patten, what is the purpose and the content of your meeting with Cardinal Sin?
Governor: The purpose of my meeting Cardinal Sin was first of all that he is one of the most distinguished and internationally renowned members of this community, whose views on moral and other issues around the world carry considerable weight. Secondly, I know that he has many admirers in the Filipino community in Hong Kong - a number of whom I hear singing most Sunday mornings. And thirdly, having heard him preach in the past, I was very keen to meet him myself. He has got a global reputation and has much to contribute to anyone's understanding of Asia and the tensions and pressures of life in Asia.
I had an extremely interesting discussion with him about the past and the present, and indeed the future, and was struck one again as I had been when I heard him preach - was struck once again by his considerable eloquence and humour.
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Question: Was the Spratleys issue one of the things you discussed with this morning?
Governor: Sorry?
Question: Was the Spratleys issue one of the things you discussed with...? The issue of the Spratleys Islands.
Governor; No. The Spratleys Islands have not come up in any of the discussions that I have had.