XN000022-1994-01-12 — Page 4

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1994

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GOVERNOR: LET ME RESPOND IN THE SAME SORT OF WAY THAT THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY, I THINK, HAS EARLIER IN THE DAY. I AM SURPRISED BY SOME THE THINGS THAT'S SAID IN PEKING, EXTREMELY SURPRISED PARTICULARLY SINCE, I AM SURE, PEKING OFFICIALS WANT AS WE DO TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROSPERITY AND STABILITY OF THIS TREMENDOUS COMMUNITY. WHAT DIRECTOR LU PING KNOWS IS THAT IN THE MIDDLE OF LAST MONTH, ON DECEMBER 15, WE TOLD THE CHINESE SIDE DURING THE JLG MEETING THAT WE WOULD NEED TO COME TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL WITH PROPOSALS, WITH OPTIONS FOR FUNDING IN ORDER TO KEEP DOWN COSTS, REDUCE COSTS IF POSSIBLE AND KEEP THE MOMENTUM OF THE PROJECT GOING. HE ALSO, I AM SURE, KNOWS THAT EARLIER THIS MONTH BEFORE WE PASSED THE DOCUMENTS TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, WE PASSED THE DOCUMENTS TO THE CHINESE SIDE, TO CHINESE OFFICIALS SO THEY WERE WELL INFORMED IN ADVANCE OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING. EQUALLY, IF ONE LOOKS AT THE AIRPORT CORPORATION BILL, WE GAVE A DRAFT OF THAT BILL TO THE CHINESE SIDE WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES IN JULY AND IN JULY, WE SAID THAT WE'D LIKE то PUBLISH IT AS A WHITE BILL FOR PUBLIC DISCUSSION IN HONG KONG. IN NOVEMBER, SOME MONTHS AFTER JULY, CHINESE OFFICIALS SAID O.K. GO AHEAD TO CONSULTATION WHICH IS WHAT WE'VE NOW DONE. SO THERE'VE BEEN MANY MONTHS DURING WHICH CHINESE OFFICIALS HAD EVERY OPPORTUNITY OF CONSIDERING THAT BILL AND ASKING FOR INFORMATION ABOUT IT. BUT, IF WE ARE ALL COMMITTED AS WE SHOULD BE TO GETTING ON WITH THE AIRPORT AGAINST THE BACKGROUND I'VE DESCRIBED, IT'S FAR BETTER FOR US TO DO SO IN THE AIRPORT COMMITTEE THAN BY EXCHANGING OBSERVATIONS WITH ONE ANOTHER AT THOUSANDS OF MILES' DISTANCE THROUGH TELEVISION CAMERAS. AND A FEW MONTHS AGO,

WE HAD OUR LAST MEETING OF THE AIRPORT COMMITTEE. THAT UNFORTUNATELY THREW UP CHINESE PROBLEMS OVER LAND. SO WE SUGGESTED THAT THERE SHOULD BE EXPERT TALKS ON LAND ΤΟ RESOLVE THOSE MATTERS. WE'VE STILL, ALAS, NOT RECEIVED A POSITIVE RESPONSE FROM THE CHINESE SIDE. AGAIN, THERE IS A LAND COMMISSION WHERE WE CAN RESOLVE THOSE MATTERS JUST AS THERE IS AN AIRPORT COMMITTEE. SO, WHAT I SUGGEST IS THIS, IN ORDER TO GET THESE PROBLEMS SORTED OUT ONCE AND FOR ALL, THE CHINESE SIDE SHOULD COME TO AN AIRPORT COMMITTEE MEETING WITH THEIR SPECIFIC REQUESTS ON THE AIRPORT. THEY SHOULD SAY PRECISELY WHAT THEY WANT, WHAT THEY WANT IN TERMS OF FUNDING, WHAT THEY WANT IN TERMS OF EQUITY INJECTION, WHAT THEY WANT IN TERMS OF LAND. WE CAN THEN TELL THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG WHAT EXACTLY IT IS THAT THE CHINESE SIDE WANT AND WHAT EXACTLY IT IS THAT WE ARE PREPARED TO PROPOSE AND THEN THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG CAN DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES WHO IS BEING REASONABLE AND WHO IS NOT. YOU ALL KNOW EVERYONE IN HONG KONG, EXCEPT CONCEIVABLY THE DIRECTOR OF THE NONA, KNOWS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF THE AIRPORT LIKE THAT, IF THERE WAS THE WILL. I HOPE THAT WILL CAN BE CREATED IN THE COMING WEEKS AND MONTHS BECAUSE IF IT IS NOT, IT WILL BE THE SAR GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG AND THE PEOPLE OF SOUTHERN CHINA WHO WILL SUFFER MOST. SO, LET'S GET BACK ΤΟ THE AIRPORT COMMITTEE. LET'S TALK IN THE AIRPORT COMMITTEE LET'S STOP MAKING POLITICAL POINTS. WE ARE NOT GOING TO DO HOPE NO CHINESE OFFICIALS WILL.

THAT.

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QUESTION: WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THE ARTICLE WHICH APPEARED IN THE AUSTRALIAN BY MALCOLM FRAZER WHICH ACTUALLY IS QUITE NASTY. GOVERNOR: I RESPONDED IN A LETTER WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN THE AUSTRALIAN, I THINK, EITHER YESTERDAY OR TODAY. IT'S AN EXTREMELY GOOD LETTER AND I AM SURE MR FRAZER WOULD HAVE FOUND IT PROFOUNDLY CONVINCING. I AM DELIGHTED THAT THE UNDERSTANDING SHOWN BY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT FOR OUR POSITION AND I AM PARTICULARLY DELIGHTED BY THE REMARKS THAT'VE BEEN MADE FROM TIME TO TIME BY THE AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER.

/QUESTION: