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IF

WONG SAU-YING, AP: YOU HAVE TALKED WITH THE DISCIPLINARY FORCES PRETTY THIS MORNING, AND YOU ALSO SAID THEY HAD PUT ACROSS THEIR CASE FORCIBLY. ARE YOU WORRIED OR ARE YOU CONCERNED THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY DON'T GET WHAT THEY WANT TO GET, HONG KONG WOULD BECOME A LAWLESS

UNGOVERNABLE PLACE? OR WOULD IT BECOME MORE DIFFICULT

IN THE RUN-

UP TO 1997?

A

-

-

LORD CAITHNESS: I UNDERSTAND THE CONCERN THAT THERE IS AMONGST THE LOT OF PEOPLE WHEN THERE IS A RISE IN CRIME. IF ONE LOOKS AT STATISTICS, I AM TOLD THAT ONE SEES THAT THE LEVEL OF CRIME NOW, IS IN FACT LESS THAN IT WAS TEN YEARS AGO IN HONG KONG, AND THAT HONG KONG'S INTERNATIONAL RECORD IS EXTREMELY GOOD. A GREAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE SAID ΤΟ

IT IS SAFER FOR A GIRL OF SEVENTEEN TO BE ON THE ME,

STREETS OF HONG KONG THAN IT IS ON THE STREETS OF LONDON AND HAVING A DAUGHTER MYSELF THAT IS QUITE IMPORTANT

BUT THERE IS A LOT THAT IS STILL VERY GOOD HERE. BUT OF COURSE, WHEN YOU GET A RISE IN TREND THERE IS A CONCERN. T HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT AND THE SERVICES WILL WORK TOGETHER TO GET ON TOP OF THE PROBLEM.

WONG

―

-

SAU-YING: APART FROM WHAT YOU'VE SAID YOU WOULD RELAY THEIR VIEW TO GOVERNMENT WHAT HAVE YOU ASSURED THEM?

—

LORD CAITHNESS: I HAVE TOLD THEM THAT I WOULD RELAY THEIR VIEWS DIRECTLY TO THE GOVERNOR BUT THIS IS A MATTER WHICH THE HONG KONG. GOVERNMENT AND THEY MUST SORT OUT, AS HAS BEEN DONE IN THE PAST.

WONG SAU-YING: WELL BUT THIS IS OBVIOUSLY OF CONCERN HERE IN

ORDER. HONG KONG, THAT PEOPLE ARE WORRIED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, OUR PUBLIC AND IF THE DISCIPLINARY FORCES THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE A UNITED ACTION TO GET WHAT THEY WANT THIS TIME. WHAT THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT WANT TO DO OR CAN DO TO MAKE THE PLACE MORE GOVERNABLE, BEFORE IT'S HANDED BACK TO CHINA IN 1997?

LORD CAITHNESS: I'M SURE THAT THE DISCIPLINED SERVICES AND THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT WILL WORK OUT A METHOD BY WHICH THIS TERRITORY CAN CONTINUE TO BE CONTROLLED, IN THE FORM OF LAW AND ORDER, AS IT HAS BEEN IN THE PAST AND TO THE SATISFACTION OF EVERYBODY.

BERNARD FONG, SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: LORD CAITHNESS, YOUR CONFIDENCE OF THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN, WELL, ASSURING REASSURING, BUT ARE YOU AWARE WHY THE POLICE WOULD APPROACH YOU, BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT SETTLE THEIR DIFFERENCES WITH HONG KONG GOVERNMENT, AND DO YOU KNOW WHY SO MANY HONG KONG GROUPS APPEAL TO THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT THROUGH THE NCNA? I THINK THAT IS OBVIOUSLY LACK OF HONG KONG CONFIDENCE IN OUR GOVERNMENT, THERE IS A VACUUM OF LEADERSHIP IN OUR GOVERNMENT. THAT IS WHY THEY LOOK TO LONDON AND LOOK TO BEIJING.

/LORD CAITHNESS:

+

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