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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1990
MINISTER OF STATE GIVES PRESS CONFERENCE
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GIVEN
THE FOLLOWING IS THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE THIS AFTERNOON BY THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS, LORD CAITHNESS:
GOOD AFTERNOON, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. FIRST OF ALL, I WOULD LIKE TO PAY A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY IN HONG KONG THAT HAS ME. MY WIFE AND MY PARTY SO WELCOME. IT HAS BEEN A VERY IMPRESSIVE FIRST VISIT TO HONG KONG AND WE HAVE DONE A LOT OF HARD WORK AND A LOT OF DISCUSSION.
I THINK IF I COULD START BY, IN FACT, GOING BACK TO THE BEGINNING. I SAID WHEN I ARRIVED THAT I WOULD FIGHT FOR HONG KONG AND THIS VISIT HAS HELPED ME TO FOCUS ON WHAT THE KEY ISSUES ARE AND IF I COULD SAY THAT THERE ARE THREE THINGS THAT HAVE STRUCK ME IN THE SIX DAYS THAT I HAVE BEEN HERE. THE FIRST IS THE WIDE SPECTRUM OF PEOPLE I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TALK TO WHO HAVE PUT FORWARD THEIR CONCERNS, VERY REAL CONCERNS ABOUT THE FUTURE, ABOUT THEIR POSITIONS, HOW THEY SEE THINGS, WHAT THEIR CONCERNS ARE TODAY, TOMORROW AND IN THE LONG TERM.
THE SECOND THING IS HOW IMPRESSED I HAVE BEEN BY WHAT IS HAPPENING IN HONG KONG. I HAVE SEEN SOME OF THE RECENT WORKS, THE CONTAINER TERMINAL, THE NEW UNIVERSITY THAT IS GOING UP IN VERY SHORT ORDER. I THINK THAT THAT IS AN ENORMOUSLY ENCOURAGING SIGN AND A SIGN OF A PLACE THAT IS STILL LOOKING FORWARD, STILL LOOKING TO EDUCATE AND TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION AND THAT WAS VERY ENCOURAGING.
POLITICALLY AND HONG KONG FOR SEEN ON THOSE
I THINK THE THIRD THING THAT STRUCK ME IS HOW MUCH THE HONG KONG PEOPLE ARE DOING FOR THEMSELVES. DOUGLAS HURD HAS SAID THAT HE WOULD LIKE HONG KONG ΤΟ GO FORWARD STABLY, ECONOMICALLY SOUND WITH HONG KONG LOOKING AFTER THEMSELVES AND I HAVE BEEN IMPRESSED BY WHAT I HAVE THREE FRONTS. SOME OF WHAT I HAVE HEARD HAS BEEN AT TOTAL VARIANCE WITH OTHER COMMENTS FROM OTHER PEOPLE. SO I HAVE HAD A WIDE RANGE OF VIEWS AND THAT HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL WHEN I GET BACK AND AM ABLE ΤΟ THINK ABOUT IT, TALK TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE AND TALK TO OTHERS ABOUT HONG KONG'S POSITION. THANK YOU.
BETTY LIU, TVB NEWS: MINISTER, WHAT EXACTLY WILL YOU FIGHT FOR HONG KONGP
/LORD CAITHNESS:
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