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Question: Mr Patten ... Prime Minister, will you talk to him about your political future?
Governor: No. I'll talk to him about Hong Kong's future, but not mine.
Question: Mr Patten, there are six directorate officers of GIS who will leave later this year and next year. So do you think that it shows that civil servants lack the confidence in the future Government?
Governor: I hope not. As I said on the phone-in programme, we've had very few drop- outs in the civil service proportionately over the last couple of years, though the figures are slightly higher at the more senior levels. We've managed when people have left to replace them with very good usually younger civil servants and I hope that would be the case in the GIS as it has been elsewhere. Any more. Thank you very much indeed.
End
Phone-in with the Governor
Following is a transcript of the RTHK Phone-in Programme with the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, this (Friday) morning:
Presenter: Perhaps let us have a chat with the Governor. Let me put a question to the Governor myself about the Provisional Legislature, this is the most controversial issue at the moment.
Question: The Chinese Government said that the Provisional Legislature is going to be set up. In the coming 300 hundred or so days what can Hong Kong do and what can Britain do?
Governor: What we will do is to go on giving our support and endorsement to the existing Legislature which is freely and fairly elected in line with the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, which was elected by a record number of people and which reflects, very faithfully I think, the opinions of people in Hong Kong. We worry that Chinese officials do not like the fact that it reflects the opinions of Hong Kong.