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Transcript of Governor's media session
Following is the transcript of the media session by the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, after visiting Kwai Tsing District this (Thursday) afternoon:
Governor: I'm delighted to have been able to visit Kwai Tsing again today. This is an area which is in the front line of Hong Kong's economic development, partly as a result they face a number of environmental problems, and I've been grateful for the opportunity of seeing some of them first-hand and discussing them with the chairman of the district board and members of the district board. So I'll be taking back some of the thoughts that I've received from the district board today. Any questions?
Question: What do you think about the Preparatory Committee saying that the 1994 National People's Congress resolution has given the legitimacy of the proposed provisional legislature?
Governor: I was interested that those who replied very quickly to the remarks I made yesterday, quickly and rather intemperately, didn't actually respond to the main point that I've made. Now it may be that over the coming months, members of the Preparatory Committee and Chinese officials will drum up all sorts of spurious justifications for dismantling the lawfully constituted Legislative Council here in Hong Kong, and I think the community will look at those justifications with a good deal of scepticism. Why? Because I think the view in the community is that there is only one purpose which Chinese officials are seeking, and that is to exclude from the legislature some of the politicians in Hong Kong who most clearly represent the majority view of Hong Kong. That is the purpose. Now let's hear some of the members of the Preparatory Committee and Chinese officials responding to that point. If they think that we are wrong, let them deny categorically that they will put forward any arrangements designed to exclude some of those politicians in Hong Kong who've demonstrated that they clearly represent majority opinion. They could be even more Fourteen members of the reassuring in what they say about the legislature. Preparatory Committee are themselves members of the Legislative Council. One of them addressed remarks on this subject yesterday. They work very happily alongside other members of the Legislative Council, members for example who are in the democrat party. I think those members of the Preparatory Committee should themselves state categorically that they won't support any proposals for a provisional legislature or for another Legislative Council which exclude specifically from membership some of those that they sit alongside in the Legislative Council today. Now until those points are addressed, the whole community is going to view these discussions within the Preparatory Committee with a very considerable amount of suspicion to put it no more strongly. So I hope those points will be addressed by Chinese officials and by members of the Preparatory Committee over the next few days. And I hope the Preparatory Committee will demonstrate that it's prepared to speak up for Hong Kong and not just go along with whatever some Chinese officials propose.