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Governor: Well, I would hope that we can set it up reasonably quickly and obviously we would like to see it able to conclude its work before the end of the year.
Question: Any idea about its composition at this stage?
Governor: We've got some ideas about the composition. We would like to have a judge from another jurisdiction or a retired judge as well as a couple of judges with Hong Kong experience.
Question: It looks like the first case... do you think it will affect people's confidence on the judiciary?
Governor: As I said earlier, it's precisely at this sensitive moment in Hong Kong's history to underline the reasons for confidence in the judiciary that I thought it right to respond to the acting Chief Justice's request. I don't believe that when things like this happen you should brush them under the carpet. I've tried to ensure while I've been in Hong Kong that Government is more open and more accountable, that people don't have reason for thinking that bad things are happening behind closed doors. When there are serious allegations made, when there are real public concerns expressed, I think it's vital that they should be cleared up, that they should be dealt with in as open and comprehensive a way as possible and that's why, even though establishing a tribunal is as I said almost without precedent, certainly without precedent in this century, I thought it right to do so today.
End
HK's success story will continue: CS
Factors that have helped create Hong Kong's success would not disappear after the change of sovereignty on July 1 next year, the Chief Secretary, Mrs Anson Chan, said today (Tuesday).
Speaking at a business luncheon in Sydney organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in conjunction with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the Chief Secretary said Hong Kong's economy continued to grow, albeit at a slightly slower rate than previously, and its economic fundamentals were strong with a five per cent growth per annum forecast for the medium term.