XN000022-1995-01-17 — Page 4

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Transcript of the CS's media session

The following is the transcript of the media session by the Chief Secretary, Mrs Anson Chan, at the airport on her return from Singapore this (Tuesday) afternoon.

CS: I've just spent four days in Singapore, had a very good visit. I named a floating dock, which is a joint venture between Far East Livingston in Singapore and Hart in Hong Kong. This floating dock will be towed to Hong Kong in the next two weeks for use in the port of Hong Kong. I also had an opportunity to call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Trade and Industry. There's a good deal of interest in Hong Kong, particularly in how Hong Kong is coping with the transition. And both ministers reaffirmed to me their wish to see a strengthening of ties between Singapore and Hong Kong. I was particularly glad to have an opportunity of addressing the senior civil servants of Singapore. The administrative service of the Singapore Government currently is suffering an outflow of talents, particularly in the middle ranks, in the administrative service to the private sector. But I was very glad to be able to say that within the civil service, our vacancy rates are extremely low, and our wastage rate, in fact, has stabilised at about five per cent.

Question: How do you respond to remarks by Lu Ping that Beijing wants to know which government officials having been given the right of abode under the BNSS saying that... will also be in breach of the Joint Declaration?

CS: Can I make it absolutely clear that we have no wish to create difficulties for the nomination of principal official posts. We want to be able to co-operate fully with the Chinese. I am not aware that currently we have adopted any practice that is in breach of the Joint Declaration. We have never breached the Joint Declaration and do not intend to breach the Joint Declaration. As I said, we wish to facilitate the nomination of principal official posts. I think we need an early meeting at the JLG with the Chinese, whereby both parties can discuss exactly what information we currently hold in hand, what are our current arrangements as regards confidential reports on individual civil servants, on security vetting, what information we do hold, what information we destroy. I repeat again we wish to co-operate fully with the Chinese and the earlier we can have discussion on this and the earlier we can come to an agreement with the Chinese, the better. But I must stress also another point and that is that private particulars of individual officers, of course, is a matter of great sensitivity to individual civil servants. So whilst on the one hand we wish to co-operate with the Chinese Government, we must also bear in mind the concerns of individual officers. We want to fetch up with an arrangement that all parties will be comfortable with. All right? Thank you.

End/Tuesday, January 17, 1995

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