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In this connection, the Foreign Secretary and the Vice Premier Qian Qichen issued a public statement after their recent meeting at The Hague. The two sides agreed that continuity of the civil service was vital for a successful transition, reaffirmed the commitment to a politically impartial civil service, and agreed that civil servants should remain loyal and dedicated to serving Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Government before July 1, 1997 and the Special Administrative Region Government thereafter. Vice Premier Qian also said that China hoped that all civil servants would stay on to serve the Special Administrative Region Government. He also confirmed that until July 1, 1997 the Governor, Privy Council and Legislative Council alone would exercise power in Hong Kong. Following his discussions with the Chief Secretary, Director Lu Ping also reiterated that the Chinese government would not have a second power centre in Hong Kong and that there would be no interference in Hong Kong Government's effective administration before June 30, 1997.
The Hong Kong Government welcomes these statements.
End
Govt's focus on external commercial relations
Following is a question by the Hon Cheng Ming-fun and a reply by the Secretary for Trade and Industry, Miss Denise Yue, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
It is learnt that China and Macau signed an agreement on trade and co- operation with the European Union (EU) in 1985 and 1992 respectively and that the Republic of Korea is now negotiating a similar agreement with the EU. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the reasons for the territory not having entered into such an agreement with the EU?
Reply: