XN000022-1995-07-06 — Page 2

—

Governor's question-and-answer session

Following is the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten's question-and- answer session after delivering his speech at the Hong Kong Exporters' Association luncheon today (Thursday):

Question: I've asked you this question before in another forum. As a trading exporter, and especially on the trading side as opposed maybe to the manufacturing side, we are an international community of people from many different races and nationalities. We are now getting more concerned, as we get closer to '97, that people like myself who run small businesses owned by myself - my business can stay here forever but I'm not sure I can. The right of abode, sir, is a big problem. I know you've had and I congratulate you on successes recently in the airport and other agreements - but this is a very important one, and for us in particular, sir.

Governor: I think that this is an issue on which public attention and public debate is inevitably going to focus increasingly over the coming months, and indeed, over the coming couple of years, if we don't resolve it satisfactorily. And I would associate it with some related issues, involving freedom of travel, the ability to travel without a visa, all those issues which touch on free movement, nationality and abode.

We are still negotiating, still arguing, still debating with Chinese officials about the issue of right of abode. I think that Chinese officials understand the importance to Hong Kong of the issue and if I may say so, without being thought to be asking you to lobby, I'm sure that it's helpful for businessmen and business groups to put these arguments to Chinese officials as eloquently as you put arguments about the Court of Final Appeal, because Hong Kong's status, Hong Kong's position makes this a crucial issue. We are, as you said, an international community; an international city which is 98% Chinese but has an open revolving door for the rest of the world. And that's one reason why we are so successful, and that is one reason why Hong Kong, in the future, will be so useful to China as China continues its extraordinary economic revolution and economic transformation.

-

-

To go on travelling, to go on feeling that in commercial terms and in other terms, the world's your oyster; to go on with a buccaneering, boisterous, adventurous spirit, which is, I guess, what anybody whose life is in exporting needs to be I wouldn't go far as to say, as a former British Prime Minister did, that exporting is fun. But I know that exporting is a huge challenge and adventure to go on doing those things with self-confidence and elan, you do need certain certainties. You need certainties about being able to come home again. You do need certainties that the door is going to go on revolving. So I hope that we can sort these matters out with goodwill on both sides in the coming weeks and months. It's an issue which we've been discussing only recently and the sooner it can be resolved the better.