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Transcript of FS
The following is the English transcript of the media session given by the Financial Secretary, Mr Donald Tsang, at the airport today (Sunday) before his departure for Jakarta for a duty visit:
Reporter: Mr Tsang, will you discuss the Nattrass controversy with the New Zealand .... or with any people when you go down there?
FS: I will not. It is a matter which is sub judice, you know it is under trial at the moment. And the Chief Justice and Acting Chief Justice are already looking into the matter and they are starting enquiries. It is not a matter which the Administration, which respects fully the independence of the judiciary, going to interfere.
Reporter: Mr Tsang, is the Government going to give the assurance that important legislation like the ones to give Beijing the right to declare trade sanctions in Hong Kong will not be rushed through the LegCo without proper time for examination ?
FS: Well, we will never rush things through Legislative Council. That is a very technical issue. It is nothing peculiar about it. It is part of the localisation of Hong Kong legislation. I am quite sure my colleague, the Secretary for Trade and Industry will explain very fully the import of any such legislation to LegCo before she put it through.
Reporter: Hong Kong will remain in the community of APEC once it becomes part of China?
FS: Definitely. It is part of the idea which is recognised and accepted by all other members of APEC that our membership is not affected by the transition at all. We must remember our membership is derived from the fact that Hong Kong is an autonomous economy. APEC is a conglomeration, it is a collection of economies not of sovereign states. So the change in 1997 for Hong Kong which is a change of sovereignty should not affect that underlying status that Hong Kong is an autonomous economic entity.
Reporter: Mr Tsang, we expect one comment generally on inflation figures. In recent figures, the rate appears to be fairly steady. There are forecasts that the rate may be coming down in the next few months.... I mean.... what are your assessment then?
FS: I am very happy about those figures. It indicates inflation generally is under control. I estimated early in the year that the overall inflation rate for 1996 would be roughly 7.5(%). I may have to look at that again. It looks as if we might not reach that figure too. It is very good news.
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