XN000022-1983-07-07 — Page 15

QUESTION:

H.E.:

IF CHINA WERE TO TAKE BACK HER SOVEREIGNTY OVER HONG KONG FOR ONE DAY, SAY FOR EXAMPLE, HOW MANY MORE YEARS AT LEAST YOU WOULD THINK THAT HONG KONG SHOULD BE UNDER THE BRITISH FLAG IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE PROSPERITY AND STABILITY OF HONG KONG?

I THINK YOU'RE SPECULATING WAY DOWN THE LINE, IF I MAY SAY SO. (LAUGHTER)

QUESTION

H.E.:

THE STOCK MARKET HAS RESPONDED VERY POSITIVELY TO THE NEWS OF THE TALKS RESTARTING WOULD YOU SAY THAT THIS MOOD, SOME HAVE DESCRIBED IT AS +EUPHORIA+, IS WELL FOUNDED?

| CERTAINLY WOULDN'T CALL IT EUPHORIA: I THINK IT IS INDEED AN ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENT, YOU SAY THEY HAVE RESTARTED, THAT'S NOT WHAT THE ANNOUNCEMENT SAID, THE ANNOUNCEMENT SAID THAT THE SECOND PHASE WOULD BEGIN.

QUESTION: YOU ARE GOING TO STAY IN PEKING A FEW MORE DAYS

BEFORE AND AFTER THE TALKS IN PEKING, OR WHAT?

H.E.: NO, I'M GOING TO PEKING THIS TIME FOR THE TALKS AND

THEN I SHALL COME BACK DIRECTLY AFTER THE TALKS, BUT THAT IS OF COURSE ONLY THE BEGINNING PHASE AND IT'S ONLY THE FIRST IN A NUMBER OF VISITS WHICH I EXPECT TO MAKE.

QUESTION:

BUT ARE YOU GOING TO STAY FOR A FEW MORE DAYS?

H.E.. THIS TIME, NO. I WOULDN'T MIND A HOLIDAY, I MUST ADMIT.

(LAUGHTER

QUESTION: DO YOU THINK THAT THE BRITISH DELEGATION WILL

H.E.:

REPRESENT THE INTERESTS AND WILL OF THE HONG KONG PEOPLE IN THE TALKS, AND DO YOU THINK THERE ARE CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE WILL OF THE HONG KONG PEOPLE AND THE WILL OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT?

NO, I THINK WHAT THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT MADE QUITE CLEAR IS THAT WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR AND THE PHRASE WILL BE FAMILIAR TO ALL OF YOU, THEY ARE LOOKING FOR A SETTLEMENT WHICH IS ACCEPTABLE NOT ONLY TO BRITAIN AND CHINA, BUT TO THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, SO I SEE NO CONFLICT BETWEEN THE AIMS OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG.

QUESTION:

SIR, WHO REPRESENTS THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG IN THESE TALKS, YOU DIDN'T ANSWER MY QUESTION WHEN I SAID +WHO DO YOU REPRESENT+?

H.E.:

I REPRESENT

I AM THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG.

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