XN000022-1985-03-05 — Page 5

JESDAY, MARCH 5, 1985

SHE SAID THAT THE INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT WAS VERY CONSCIOUS OF IMPROVING HONG KONG'S IMAGE ON THE WORLD STAGE. IN ADDITION TO THE NO LESS IMPORTANT ROLE OF DISSEMINATING AND EXPLAINING GOVERNMENT'S POLICIES AND ACTIONS IN HONG KONG.

QUITE UNDERSTANDABLY, SHE SAID, THE 1997 TALKS AND BUILDUP TO THE AGREEMENT HAD THRUST HONG KONG INTO UNPRECEDENTED INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION.

INTERNATIONALLY, THERE HAD BEEN POSITIVE RESPONSE TO THE AGREEMENT, AN AGREEMENT THAT MANY OVERSEAS AS WELL AS LOCAL COMMENTATORS HAD THOUGHT COULD NOT BE ACHIEVED IN SUCH DETAIL, MISS CHEUNG SAID.

HAD ANYONE THOUGHT THAT THE SIGNING OF THE JOINT DECLARATION WOULD LOWER THE MEDIA CURTAIN ON HONG KONG, THEY WOULD BE GREATLY MISTAKEN. THERE HAD BEEN VIRTUALLY NO LET-UP IN THE NUMBER OF JOURNALISTS, TV AND FILM CREWS COMING HERE SINCE THE SIGNING.

ONLY THE EMPHASIS ON STORY ANGLES HAD CHANGED. FROM THE SPECIFICS OF THE AGREEMENT, TO HOW HONG KONG WAS GEARING UP FOR THE 12 YEAR TRANSITION AND THE WAYS IN WHICH BUSINESSMEN AND THE POPULATION GENERALLY WERE ADAPTING TO THEIR PLANNED FUTURE.

+THE RESURGENT ECONOMY AND BOOMING TRADE, AS WELL AS HONG KONG'S VITAL ROLE AS A GATEWAY TO CHINA, HAVE ALSO COME IN FOR WIDE AND IN-DEPTH COVERAGE IN VIRTUALLY ALL CORNERS OF THE WORLD, SHE SAID.

MISS CHEUNG SAID THAT THE LINCHPIN THAT ENSURED VISITING JOURNALISTS HAD THE WIDEST ACCESS TO INFORMATION WAS THE OVERSEAS PUBLIC RELATIONS SUB-DIVISION OF THE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICES, BETTER KNOWN AS O.P.R.S.

+THIS SMALL BUT COMPACT UNIT PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN GIVING THE WORLD AN UP-TO-DATE AND BALANCED PICTURE OF WHAT MAKES THE TERRITORY TICK,+ SHE SAID.

DURING 1984, SHE SAID, O.P.R.S. ASSISTED 210 INDIVIDUAL.NEWS

OF THESE WRITERS AND 78 TV, RADIO OR FILM TEAMS FROM OVERSEAS. VISITORS, 27 WERE GUESTS OF G.1.S. COVERING INFLUENTIAL MEDIA IN NORTH AMÉRICA, THE U.K. AND OTHER E.E.C. COUNTRIES.

0.P.R.S. ALSO OFFERED ASSISTANCE TO THE 40 JOURNALISTS ACCOMPANYING THE FOREIGN SECRETARY, SIR GEOFFREY HOWE, ON HIS TWO VISITS IN APRIL AND JULY, THE 11 MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES ACCOMPANYING PRIME MINISTER MRS MARGARET THATCHER'S HISTORIC VISIT AT THE END OF THE YEAR AND THE PRESS PARTIES ACCOMPANYING THE VISIT OF THE AMERICAN SECRETARY OF STATE GEORGE SHULTZ IN JULY, AND SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR DIANA FEINSTEIN IN NOVEMBER.

HELP WAS ALSO GIVEN TO MEDIA GROUPS FROM WEST GERMANY, AUSTRALIA AND FRANCE, AND BRIEFINGS ARRANGED FOR NON-JOURNAL IST GROUPS SUCH AS THE 12-MEMBER LOS ANGELES TRADE AFFAIRS COUNCIL PARTY AND THE 47-MEMBER BELGIAN TRADE COMMISSION, SHE SAID.

/WHILE