XN000022-1992-11-02 — Page 9

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1992

ELECTED

8

IF YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO THE ARGUMENT ABOUT DIRECTLY SEATS, OR IF ANYBODY ELSE WANTS TO GO BACK TO THAT

ARGUMENT,

THEY

SO BE IT. BUT I THINK THE PROPOSALS I'VE PUT FORWARD REPRESENT A SENSIBLE ALTERNATIVE AND I HOPE THEY'LL BE REGARDED AS SUCH. SEEM TO BE REGARDED AS SUCH, EVEN BY THOSE OF MY CRITICS WHO THINK WE SHOULD GO FASTER AND FURTHER.

GOVERNOR, ABOUT

PHILIPPE LE CORRE (RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONAL) THOSE PROPOSALS YOU'VE TAKEN NOW, AS WAS SAID, NOT BEFORE, ARE THEY OF A GREAT IMPORTANCE FOR THE IMAGE OF THE UK IN ASIA-PACIFIC? AND IF, YES, IS THAT IMAGE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UK AND CHINA?

GOVERNOR:

WHAT THEY'RE MOST IMPORTANT FOR IS THE FUTURE GOOD GOVERNMENT OF HONG KONG.

WHAT THEY'RE MOST IMPORTANT FOR IS PRESERVING THE WAY OF LIFE, THE PROSPERITY AND THE STABILITY OF HONG KONG. THAT'S WHAT SHOULD DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT ONE BRINGS FORWARD ANY PARTICULAR SET OF PROPOSALS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF HONG KONG. THOSE PROPOSALS WERE MADE IN HONG KONG, THEY REPRESENT THE RESULT OF THE CONVERSATIONS THAT I HAD WITH POLITICAL AND COMMUNITY LEADERS IN HONG KONG. THE MAJOR CONCERN IS THAT WE SHOULD HAVE IN PLACE FOR 1995, AS I'VE SAID AGAIN AND AGAIN, ARRANGEMENTS WHICH ARE FAIR, WHICH ARE OPEN, AND WHICH ARE ACCEPTABLE TO THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG.

IN THAT WAY, WE CAN ENSURE THAT THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, THE LAST FIVE YEARS OF BRITISH STEWARDSHIP, ARE HONOURABLE AND COMPETENT, AND THAT IS WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THEM AS.

LARRY ZUCKERMAN (INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE) : I'D LIKE TO GET BACK TO A SUBJECT I KNOW YOU LIKE TALKING ABOUT, WHICH IS THE AIRPORT.

I WAS SURPRISED TO HEAR YOU SAY THAT YOU WERE WORRIED THAT BRITAIN MIGHT VIOLATE THE MOU. ISN'T IT TRUE NOW THAT CHINA'S HAS VIOLATED BOTH THE LETTER AND THE SPIRIT OF THE MEMORANDUM?

GOVERNOR:

YOU'D BETTER ASK THAT QUESTION NEXT TIME THE HONG KONG AND MACAU OFFICE GIVE A PRESS CONFERENCE. WE REMAIN WHOLEHEARTEDLY COMMITTED TO DOING ANYTHING WE CAN TO GIVING HONG KONG THE AIRPORT THAT HONG KONG NEEDS, WANTS, AND WILL EVENTUALLY GET, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I HAVE NO DOUBT AT ALL THAT THE BEST WAY OF SECURING THAT OBJECTIVE IS THROUGH AN OVERALL AGREEMENT WITH CHINA.

CHINA HAS COMMITTED HERSELF TO SUCH AN OVERALL AGREEMENT. THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE PRC AND THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM BOTH SIGNED THAT MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING. I ASSUME THAT EVERYONE, LIKE THE

HONG KONG GOVERNMENT AND THE UNITED KINGDOM GOVERNMENT, STILL STANDS BY IT.

LARRY ZUCKERMAN:

STILL NOT BUILT

GOVERNOR:

WILL YOU BE SAYING THEN IN 1997 WHEN THE AIRPORT IS

THE MOU, THAT THEY HAVEN'T VIOLATED IT?

I THINK, WERE THAT TO BE THE CASE, WHICH I DON'T THINK IT WILL BE, AND WERE YOU TO BE STILL HERE IN HONG KONG IN 1997 TO ASK THE GOVERNOR, WHO IN 1997 WILL BE CHRIS PATTEN, I WOULD PROBABLY HAVE TO GIVE YOU A DIFFERENT ANSWER. BUT AS I SUGGESTED IN THE FIRST THREE CLAUSES OF THAT SENTENCE, I THINK IT'S A HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION.

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