XN000022-1995-01-23 — Page 4

3

Governor's question & answer session at FCC

Following is the transcript of the Governor the Rt Hon Christopher Patten's question and answer session at the Foreign Correspondents' Club today (Monday):

Question: You mentioned that Hong Kong would like to see clear signals from Chinese officials, concrete actions. You deftly avoided mentioning the name of Deng Xiaoping. It would seem to me that any civil servant or any Government official right now would be extremely hesitant to do anything so long as Deng Xiaoping, you know, is on his death-bed. Well, put it this way, do you think Chinese policy now is in limbo until the question of Deng's succession is resolved? And what do you see is the impact on Hong Kong of Deng's death, short term and long term?

Governor: You know me well enough now to know how diplomatic I always am in answering questions and I don't think it is seemly or appropriate for me to speculate about political developments in Peking, though I'm sure everybody else will be. But let me make the following points.

First of all, whatever happens in Hong Kong or China, China and Hong Kong have a shared interest in the success of their respective economies which are umbilically linked. It is overwhelmingly in Hong Kong's interest that China should continue the spectacular economic revolution that was begun by Deng Xiaoping, and whatever the occasional bumps along the road, which are inevitable, should continue that as successfully in the next 15 years as it's been carried forward in the last 15 years. Equally, it is very much in China's interest that Hong Kong which today represents 21% of China's GNP, should continue to be a successful and thriving

economy.

I

Secondly, in relation to Hong Kong, putting off decisions doesn't make them any easier. It's bound to make some decisions a bit more difficult. Putting off decisions, whether it's done by the Hong Kong Government or by anyone else, means that there will be a very great deal to do the closer we get to 1997 if we are to secure that smooth transition which everyone in Hong Kong wishes to see.