XN000022-1993-11-05 — Page 4

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1993

GOVERNOR:

I DON'T THINK THAT I EVER MAKE THREATS, WHETHER PLUMP AND FILLED OUT OR EMACIATED AND HOLLOW. LET ME PUT THE POINT, YOU MAY THINK RATHER PROSAICALLY, YOU MAY THINK RATHER OBVIOUSLY, BUT LET ME PUT THE POINT IN A DIFFERENT WAY. WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THESE ISSUES FOR ABOUT 16 MONTHS. IT IS OVER A YEAR SINCE I FIRST SPOKE ΤΟ THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AND PUT FORWARD PROPOSALS FOR DISCUSSION, WHICH AS THE INDEPENDENT LEGAL EXPERTS THIS WEEK POINTED OUT, WERE ENTIRELY IN LINE WITH THE JOINT DECLARATION, THE BASIC LAW AND THE AGREEMENTS AND UNDERSTANDINGS BETWEEN BRITAIN AND CHINA. BUT THAT WAS OVER A YEAR AGO. IN A YEAR'S TIME IF I AM HAVING A PRESS CONFERENCE, WE WILL ALREADY HAVE TWO MONTHS BEHIND US, THE FIRST IN THAT ROUND OF ELECTIONS, SO IT IS LITERALLY THE CASE THAT WE CAN'T GO ON TALKING FOREVER. I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK TO NEGOTIATE THE MASTRICHT TREATY BUT I'M NOT SURE WHETHER IT WAS 15 ROUNDS, IF THAT IS A HAPPY PRECEDENT. I'M NOT SURE HOW LONG IT TOOK TO NEGOTIATE THE TREATY OF ROME. IT IS ACTUALLY POSSIBLE, WITH GOODWILL AND SINCERITY AND AN ACCEPTANCE OF THE PRINCIPLES THAT GO TO MAKE UP A FAIR ELECTORAL SYSTEM, TO REACH AGREEMENT REASONABLY PROMPTLY, I SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT.

QUESTION: CONCLUSION

GOVERNOR:

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WOULD YOU SAY WE HAVE DAYS RATHER THAN WEEKS

?

I

BEFORE

DON'T WANT то CONTINUE TO GET INVOLVED IN CHRONOLOGICAL METAPHORS. DAYS WOULD IMPLY THAT THERE WAS LESS THAN A WEEK AND I CERTAINLY WOULD NOT SUGGEST THAT THERE IS LESS THAN A WEEK. BUT I'VE POINTED OUT, WITHOUT I HOPE MAKING ANY THREATS, THE OBVIOUS. I REPEAT THAT PEOPLE IN HONG KONG HAVE BEEN EXTRAORDINARILY PATIENT. PEOPLE IN HONG KONG KNOW THAT WE HAVEN'T GOT ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD.

QUESTION:

IS THERE ANYTHING, IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT SUBJECTIVE CRITERIA FOR WHAT THE CHINESE CALL SUBVERSION? IS THERE ANY WAY THAT THE BRITISH SIDE COULD COME TO AN AGREEMENT, INCLUDING THE POSSIBILITY OF LEGISLATION... TO

WHICH YOU COULD USE THE WORD, WHAT THE CHINESE TERM SUBVERSION, TO

THE THROUGH-TRAIN?

GOVERNOR:

THE PRECISE CRITERIA FOR THE THROUGH-TRAIN ARE MATTERS WHICH WE ARE PROPERLY DISCUSSING NOW IN THE TALKS. I THINK THAT I'M JUST TRYING TO REMEMBER PRECISELY WHAT OATH I TOOK WHEN I BECAME CHANCELLOR OF THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER I'M SURE THAT IT WAS AN OATH UNDER WHICH I UNDERTOOK TO BEHAVE WITHIN THE LAW. BUT THE PRECISE DETAILS OF THESE MATTERS ARE THINGS THAT WE WOULD WANT TO DISCUSS. IF I CAN MAKE ATTRACTIVE AS I FIND THE PROSPECT, I AM NOT GOING TO DISCUSS IT WITH YOU BEFORE IT HAS BEEN DISCUSSED WITH CHINESE NEGOTIATORS. I THINK THAT THE KEY FACTS ARE THAT THE CRITERIA SHOULD BE REASONABLE AND OBJECTIVE AND THAT THE CRITERIA SHOULD BE PROSPECTIVE NOT RETROSPECTIVE. IT IS DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE ACCEPTABLE RETROSPECTIVE CRITERIA, THAT IS A POINT WHICH I THINK HAS BEEN MADE IN A NUMBER OF VERY GOOD EDITORIALS IN THE PRESS RIGHT ACROSS THE BOARD IN HONG KONG OVER THE LAST WEEK.

LOSE THE ARE PATIENT

QUESTION:

DO YOU FEEL WORRIED THAT YOU WILL GRADUALLY PUBLIC SUPPORT, EVEN THOUGH YOU SAID HONG KONG PEOPLE ABOUT THE TALKS?

/GOVERNOR:

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