XN000022-1991-04-09 — Page 2

i

T

—

TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 1991

FOREIGN SECRETARY GIVES PRESS CONFERENCE

BY

THE

THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSCRIPT OF THE Press conference GIVEN SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS, MR DOUGLAS HURD, TODAY (TUESDAY):

MR HURD: I THINK IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL IF I MADE A FAIRLY SHORT STATEMENT MAINLY ON THE CENTRAL ISSUE AT THE MOMENT, BUT OF COURSE I WILL BE GLAD TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ON ANY OTHER ISSUES ON THE BOAT PEOPLE AND THE OTHER THINGS I HAVE BEEN DOING, OR TALKING ABOUT.

WITH

I'VE NOW HAD THOROUGH DISCUSSIONS WITH THE GOVERNOR AND EXCO THIS MORNING ABOUT MY TALKS IN PEKING AND THOSE OF MY OFFICIALS ABOUT HONG KONG.

OF COURSE, WHEN I WAS IN CHINA I HAD DISCUSSIONS WHICH WERE THE MAIN VERY PRODUCTIVE ON MANY INTERNATIONAL

A GOOD

BILATERAL MATTERS.

IN

AND

MANY

WHICH

WERE

DURING THESE

THE MAIN SUBJECT WAS CERTAINLY HONG KONG. DISCUSSIONS ON HONG KONG THE CHINESE MADE A NUMBER OF STATEMENTS TO ME CLEARLY POSITIVE: THAT THEY STAND BY THE JOINT THAT DECLARATION,

THEY INT: ND TO STRENGTHEN THE WORK OF THE JOINT IN LIAISON GROUP, THAT THEY THING. IT NECESSARY TO BUILD A NEW AIRPORT HONG

THAT CHINA'S OBJECTIVE IS TO MAINTAIN THE KONG;

STABILITY

THE PROSPERITY OF HONG KONG.

AND

THE FOREIGN MINISTER AND THE GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY JIANG ZEMIN LISTENED CAREFULLY TO WHAT I SAID AND SAID PLAINLY ABOUT

WHO PEOPLE HUMAN RIGHTS AND THIS INCLUDED A REFERENCE TO FOUR NORMALLY LIVE IN HONG KONG BUT ARE NOW DETAINED IN CHINA AND ALSO THE SITUATION IN TIBET.

TO

PRACTICAL

ON THE FUTURE OP HONG KONG, WE AGREED то

WORK OF THE JOINT LIAISON GROUP AND I HOPE THIS WILL WORK OUT IN PRACTICE.

ACCELERATE

THE

NOW

ON THE AIRPORT PROJECT, AND ON CHINESE WORRIES ABOUT FINANCES OF HONG KONG IN 1997, I THINK THE BEST WAY OF DESCRIBING IS THAT THE DISCUSSIONS EBBED AND FLOWED. IT'S NOT YET BEEN POSSIBLE

THESE то

WE DISCUSSED ALL

MATTERS REACH A SATISFACTORY CONCLUSION. AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE JOINT DECLARATION. IF I COULD JUST SAY WORD

THAT THE ABOUT MY OWN APPROACH TO THIS: IT SEEMS TO ME CLEAR

BE JOINT DECLARATION IS BASED ON TWO PRINCIPLES NEITHER OF WHICH CAN NEGLECTED.

THE

IT

A

KONG

WHO

THEY

ᎢᎻᎪᎢ .

THE FIRST IS CO-OPERATION BETWEEN BRITAIN, CHINA AND HONG GOVERNMENT. THERE DO STILL SEEM TO BE SOME ESPECIALLY IN LONDON THINK THAT ANY CONSULTATION, ALMOST ANY CONTACT, BETWEEN AUTHORITIES IN HONG KONG AND PEKING IS SOME FORM OF SURRENDER BY HONG KONG. SEEM TO ASSUME THAT HONG KONG SHOULD KEEP ITSELF AS REMOTE AS POSSIBLE FROM CHINA UNTIL THE HOUR WHEN IT RETURNS TO CHINA IN MID-1997.

THE AIM ON LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SEEMS TO ME LIGHTHEADED NONSENSE.

IN

TO MAKE 1997, THE

SHOULD BE TO PREVENT A ROUGH JOLT CONTRARY TRANSITION AS SMOOTH AS POSSIBLE. THAT IS WHY,

APART QUITE GOVERNMENT, PROPLE IN HONG KONG IN MANY PROFESSIONS, MANY LIFE ARE THEMSELVES MAKING, MULTIPLYING, THEIR OWN CONTACTS IN AND WHAT IS GOOD FOR PRIVATE PEOPLE, WHAT IS GOOD FOR PRIVATE BUSINESS PEOPLE, CAN BE GOOD FOR GOVERNMENT AS WELL.

FROM

WALKS

OF

CHINA;

/BUT THE