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Statement by Governor to Legislative Council
Following is the statement by the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, to the Legislative Council at his question-and-answer session today (Thursday):
I visited London from April 10 to 12 and Belfast from April 12 to 13.
I had useful discussions with the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, and two meetings with the Governor of Bank of England, during which we discussed the strength of the Hong Kong economy and the guarantees of Hong Kong's autonomy in fiscal, economic and trading matters after 1997. I had meetings with Foreign Office officials and also gave three major speeches.
In my meeting with the Prime Minister, we followed up the subjects that were raised during his important visit to Hong Kong last month.
We discussed the actions that had been taken since then on visa-free access, right of abode and passports for war widows. We will be pressing for as many countries as possible to provide liberal visa regimes for SAR passport holders and we hope that we will be able to see countries declaring their hands in the coming months. Obviously the progress we make on this issue depends in part on China's position on right of abode. We have noted the comments made by Director Lu during his visit to Hong Kong. These underline the need for Chinese officials to join us in expert talks as soon as possible so we can all be clear about what the detailed arrangements will be.
On passports for war widows, I very much hope that we will be able to see a Bill coming forward before the end of this Parliamentary session. This will help to put people's minds at ease and be a solid indication of Britain's commitment to resolve that issue.
I also discussed with the Prime Minister my forthcoming visit to the United States to discuss the renewal of MFN status for China, and we are obviously working closely with the British Government on that issue.
The Prime Minister had been concerned to hear about the decision to establish a provisional legislature, announced by Chinese officials after the recent meeting of the Preparatory Committee in Peking. He noted that this decision, coupled with a number of remarks about the civil service, had alarmed civil servants and the community as a whole. We both hope that we will hear more in the way of reassurance from Chinese officials in the coming weeks and months.