PASSPORT.
SIR DAVID.
OLIVER SCOTT:
IS MORE BROADLY PERHAPS, HOW FAR IS THERE CONCERN THAT THE SORT OF ISSUE THAT SUSIE WELDON REFERRED TO THERE, COUPLED WITH THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS ARE GOING TO CONSTITUTE A MAJOR DESTABILISING FACTOR, NOT JUST FOR HONG KONG WHICH CAN BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED, BUT FOR THE WHOLE REGION?
J
-
THERE
SIR DAVID: WELL, OF COURSE WE GO BACK TO THIS QUESTION ABOUT WORRIES ON THE FUTURE AND AS I SAID RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PROGRAMME, IT IS VERY UNDERSTANDABLE THAT FACED WITH THE SORT OF CHANGES THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IN 1997, PEOPLE WORRY; THEY LACK CERTAINTY ABOUT HOW IT IS ALL GOING TO WORK OUT IN PRACTICE. BUT YOU HAVE TO CONTEMPLATE WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THERE HAD BEEN NO ARRANGEMENTS WOULD HAVE BEEN EVEN GREATER UNCERTAINTY. I THINK IT IS ALSO FAIR, PARTICULARLY WHEN PEOPLE TALK AND THEY TALK A GREAT DEAL ABOUT UNCERTAINTY IN HONG KONG THAT ONE LOOKS A LITTLE AROUND THE REST OF WELL, HOW THE REGION, AND YOU LOOK AT OTHER COUNTRIES AND SAY: CERTAIN IS IT IN THE PHILIPPINES? HOW CERTAIN IS IT IN TAIWAN OR SOUTH KOREA, OR OTHER PARTS IN THE REGION? CERTAINTY IS SOMETHING WHICH IS NOT GOD-GIVEN TO US. WE LIVE HERE WITH UNCERTAINTY, WE'RE USED TO LIVING WITH UNCERTAINTY. HONG KONG HAS FLOURISHED OVER MANY,
THAT MANY YEARS AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE FUTURE. IS ONE OF THE THINGS, PERHAPS, WHICH HAS GIVEN IT ITS TREMENDOUS DYNAMISM; AND IT IS, AND IT STILL IS, I CAN ASSURE YOU, A VERY DYNAMIC PLACE AND A TREMENDOUS PLACE OF OPPORTUNITY.
OLIVER SCOTT: ONE FINAL QUESTION.
BOTH THE QUESTION AND THE ANSWER,
I'M AFRAID, ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE VERY BRIEF BUT WE WILL GO, MR YU, TO YOU IN LONDON FIRST.
CALLER: YES, GOOD EVENING, SIR DAVID.
SIR DAVID: GOOD EVENING, MR YU.
CALLER: I'M FROM PEKING, I'M CHINESE. I WILL ASK YOU ONE QUESTION. VERY SHORTLY, IT IS: FROM YOUR TALKING I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO KEEP THE PEOPLE'S CONFIDENCE IN HONG KONG BUT HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN YOUR FORMER COUNTER-PARTNER, THE XINHUA NEWS AGENCY'S TOP LEADER, XU JIATUN, FLED FROM CHINA. HE, TOO, LOST CONFIDENCE.
OLIVER SCOTT:
YES, SIR DAVID, I THINK WE WILL JUST LET YOU GET IN THERE AND ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
SIR DAVID:
MR XU IS NOT REALLY I'LL GIVE YOU A VERY QUICK ANSWER. MY FORMER COUNTERPART, I HOPE, HE WAS THE DIRECTOR OF THE NEW CHINA NEWS AGENCY AND AFTER HE HAD RETIRED, HE HAS INDEED AS YOU SAY, GONE TO THE UNITED STATES.
I HE HAS SAID HE'S GONE THERE ON A VISIT. DON'T KNOW WHAT HIS REAL PURPOSE IS AND I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG HE IS IS STAYING THERE. I DON'T THINK THAT THE MOVEMENT OF ONE MAN
WHAT MY SOMETHING WHICH IS GOING TO AFFECT THE WHOLE OF HONG KONG.
WHOLE OF HONG KONG FOR THE INTEREST IS, IS TRYING TO BUILD UP THE FUTURE; MAKE THIS VERY DYNAMIC PLACE WITH VERY ENERGETIC PEOPLE AS SUCCESSFUL IN THE FUTURE AS IT HAS BEEN IN THE PAST.
CALLER: HOW COULD YOU ENSURE PEKING CAN KEEP A *ONE COUNTRY, TWO ECONOMIC SYSTEM'
PROMISE THEIR COMMITMENT TO OR AS WELL AS TWO SYSTEMS,
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