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Speaker: Well, the question just now was about accessibility, accountability and new performance pledges and whether these can survive after '97, and you said that you hope very much that this would be the case. But that is different from it will actually happen. Do you think that such styles if they cannot survive '97, I mean what would be the causes of that?
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Governor: The cause, if they don't survive '97, is that somebody will be breaking the promise that Hong Kong people can go on running Hong Kong. I think that one of the crucial factors in the next 18 months - and it's a matter, I suppose, which the Preparatory Committec is going to have to address one of the crucial matters is whether the high degree of autonomy which Hong Kong has practised for years and which Hong Kong has promised for the future will actually be guaranteed and will actually survive. Why do I say that? For this simple reason: Hong Kong runs its affairs extremely well. I don't run a British Government in Hong Kong. I've only got one senior official who's an expatriate. This is a largely local Hong Kong Chinese Government pursuing policies that we make here and pursuing policies which by and large are very successful. Of course there are things we could do better and things we would like to do better. But I think that to interfere with that autonomy - which I hope won't happen - to interfere with that autonomy would mean that we would do things less well.
And that's why I think people were disturbed by what a Chinese official said - I think it was a mistake about our welfare spending, before Christmas. Yesterday I took particular heart from what Premier Li Peng said about the importance of Hong Kong's autonomy in managing its own affairs and I hope that we won't see anything in the coming months which erodes that.
Speaker: You have made certain promises in terms of the performance pledges. In your latest policy address you mentioned that the UK had already given preliminary consideration to provide assistance to the SAR Chief Executive Designate. What exactly is the methods you have considered in terms of offering assistance to the Chief Executive Designate of the SAR Government?
Governor: Well, as one would say in English slang: "Hang on a bit" we've first of all got to devise ways of co-operating effectively with the Preparatory Committee which we want to do. And Malcolm Rifkind was discussing that with Qian Qichen earlier in the week in Peking. Once the Preparatory Committee has chosen the Selection Committee and once the Selection Committee has in due course chosen the Chief Executive Designate, then we'll have to find ways in which we can co-operate successfully with the Chief Executive Designate. But I think you will find that both the Chief Executive Designate and the Governor and my senior officials will want very much to co-operate and to work closely together because it will be in our mutual interests to do so. So I want to see the best possible co-operation between the Administration and the Preparatory Committee, and the Chief Executive Designate in due course, and I also want to see of course during that period, the best possible co- operation between the Administration and the Legislative Council.