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Transcript of the acting Governor's media session
Following is the transcript of the remarks (English) made to the media by the acting Governor, Mrs Anson Chan, after visiting the Regional Services Department this (Thursday) afternoon:
Acting Governor: Good afternoon everyone. I'm delighted to have an opportunity this afternoon to visit the Regional Services Department staff and to see for myself the work of the Regional Council. I think over the years the Council's services have both increased in variety and in quantity and quality. And as I said, I'm delighted to be able to see these for myself.
I haven't had the chance to see you all since I met with the Japanese Foreign Minister yesterday afternoon. So I'd just like to say a few words about our meeting. It was a very useful and productive meeting which I had with Foreign Minister Ikeda. We discussed a wide range of issues of mutual concern. As you all know, Japan is Hong Kong's third largest trading partner and Japan has a huge stake in investments in Hong Kong. The Foreign Minister made it quite clear that they had a deep interest in seeing Hong Kong achieve a smooth transition and seeing maintenance of our current systems and life style after 1997. The Foreign Minister also stressed the importance of maintaining business confidence after 1997 and he expressed the view that provided our systems remained intact and our way of life remained intact, then Japanese businessmen would continue to have confidence in investing in Hong Kong. I also took the opportunity amongst other things to raise with the Foreign Minister the question of visa-free access for Hong Kong SAR passport holders. The minister said that his government has not yet taken a final decision on this, but they have already decided given the SAR's special position after 1997, they would treat Hong Kong SAR passport holders differently from PRC passport holders. I very much welcome this assurance from the Foreign Minister and expressed the hope that when the final decision is made it will be favourable.
Question: What do you understand by "differently" given that Hong Kong people now need visas to go to Japan ...?
Acting Governor: I think he made a point that they will not be treating Hong Kong SAR passport holders in the way as they treat PRC passport holders.