XN000022-1995-05-03 — Page 5

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Governor: Clearly, it's important for us to discuss these issues in confidence and try to reach agreement on them. We all thought we've reached an agreement in 1991 and that's why we are surprised that having implemented that agreement faithfully in a bill that we passed to the Chinese side a year ago, I repeat, a year ago, we still haven't got their thumbs up for the bill. We don't want to have an argument about this, we don't think there should be an argument about it. We think that the terms of the agreement and the terms of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law are absolutely clear. Under the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law, Hong Kong, the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong is guaranteed its own independent judicial authority with the powers of final adjudication and it's promised a continuation of the Common Law. If anyone was to suggest the sort of things which you mentioned, they would clearly fly in the face of those agreements. So clearly, the sooner we get on with the implementation into law of the 1991 agreement the better. It's not an arcane issue. It's not an issue which is just of concern to a limited number of lawyers or politicians. You think of the number of foreign businessmen who've talked about it recently. On the Chief Secretary's visit to Europe, the subject came up again and again. It was mentioned once more yesterday by the American Consul General in a speech that he gave in Hong Kong. It's been mentioned by the Japanese Consul General, mentioned by American businessmen, Japanese businessmen, German businessmen. It's an issue which goes right to the heart of Hong Kong's prosperity as an internationally recognised financial and business centre. So we're not looking for an argument. We just want to get on with the job and get the court set up as rapidly as possible.

Question: How can the Government guarantee judicial independence during the negotiation ?

Governor: Well, the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law are quite clear about the independence of the judiciary and I assume that no one is suggesting that Chinese officials would want to resile from that, would want to abandon that because were it the case it would be very serious for Hong Kong and I cannot believe that it would ever be the case.

Question: But the papers are saying that the Chinese side has made such a request during the JLG talks. If they really suggest so, what do think Britain will do in order to stop them doing so?

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