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out subsidies regardless of need. To freeze all charges does exactly that. It gives everybody a subsidy whether they need it or not. It's a bad way of using taxpayers' money because sooner or later someone has to pay for it. So I very much hope that we can find a sensible way forward with the Legislative Council. That's what we're working for. We've had good discussions. I think that K C Kwong, the Treasury Secretary, has had a good dialogue with legislators and I hope that it can lead to us continuing to do things in the sensible Hong Kong way which has given us nearly four decades of economic growth.
Question: Governor Patten. What do you envisage to see emerged from the three days of talks in Peking?
Governor: I hope that we get some reassurance about issues which have concerned people in Hong Kong. And these are very much the sort of issues that Malcolm Rifkind, the Foreign Secretary, was addressing when he went up to Peking. I think first of all, it would be a very sensible thing if the Preparatory Committee were to make it clear that it respects the democratic wishes of the people of Hong Kong. People in Hong Kong were promised by China as well as Britain a steady process of democratisation to underpin the guarantee given to our human rights and civil liberties and I think it would be nice if the Preparatory Committee can make it clear that it stands by that commitment to people in Hong Kong and that we weren't going to see a damaging rupture of our legislative arrangements in Hong Kong. Secondly, I think it would also be helpful if after the worrying things that were said by the Preliminary Working Committee last autumn, it could be made clear that the question of Hong Kong's human rights legislation would be left to the SAR Government and that Government should respect the international covenants and the Bill of Rights and make sure that Hong Kong's legislation is in line with that Bill of Rights. I also think it's very important that the Preparatory Committee underlines that it stands foursquare by Hong Kong's autonomy. It's not just enough to make vague promises of standing by the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law if at the same time people are threatening our autonomy over welfare spending or economic policy or other matters. So an underlining of our autonomy is important. And finally, I just hope that the Preparatory Committee will speak up for Hong Kong, will sound as though it recognises and respects the opinions of people in Hong Kong. And I hope it will also make the perfectly obvious point to those members who are from the mainland -- who are from the PRC that those who represent overwhelmingly according to elections and opinion polls, public opinions in Hong Kong and the voters in Hong Kong, should be included in discussions about the future of Hong Kong. I think that is imperative. So if we got those four messages out to the Preparatory Committee plus some good news on right of abode, confirming what Mr Qian Qichen said to Malcolm Rifkind in Peking a few weeks ago, I think it would be cause for everybody to throw their hats in the air, including those hard hats.