XN000022-1995-10-04 — Page 5

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Governor: I think it would always be quickest and easiest for Director Lu and myself to meet face to face. But I don't think that we must allow any Chinese reluctance on that score to stop us getting on with solving Hong Kong's problems. Nor do I think there is any doubt. You've been here the last few months. You know what the argument and the debate has been. Then there isn't any doubt about where the proposals that were agreed here came from. They were made in Hong Kong. They were made within the Hong Kong Administration and I am delighted that they've proved acceptable to the Chinese side.

Question: Mr Patten, Do you feel disappointed ... You said you are delighted to see this agreement yesterday. But do you feel a little bit disappointed about there's no touch about the LegCo matter during the meetings of the two foreign ministers?

Governor: I would have been delighted of course if there had, during the course of the discussions, been an acceptance on the part of Chinese officials of the democratic process in Hong Kong. Sooner or later they are going to have to face up to that because it's what people in Hong Kong have been promised in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. It's not invented by the Government of Hong Kong. It's been promised to the people of Hong Kong by the future sovereign power as well as the present sovereign power. I would have been even more delighted therefore if that had been recognised there yesterday. But I hope that it will be recognised during the next couple of years because what we are talking about isn't some abstract set of arrangements. What we are talking about is the aspirations, the opinions, the involvement of the people of Hong Kong in their own destiny. And that's not something that anybody can simply turn their back on.

Question: The role of Governor hasn't been mentioned in the talks yesterday. So what >> do you think the role of Governor will be in the transitional period?

Governor: To go on governing Hong Kong. I repeat what I said earlier. I don't think any of you who've been covering the stories that were resolved satisfactorily yesterday have any doubt where we've been making policy and where we will continue to make policy. I had a good discussion with the Prime Minister yesterday morning giving my thoughts about the agenda for the discussions during the day. I continue to be in regular touch with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary. And I am delighted that we've both managed to put in place decent electoral arrangements for Hong Kong and that we've managed in the last few months to get agreements on the airport, on the Court of Final Appeal, on the civil service transition. I hope now that we've got a smooth transition for the civil service and for the Judiciary and it would be very good too if we could complete that and get a smooth transition for the legislature as well. It's not remotely threatening to anybody. As you know, Hong Kong is a moderate and mature community and the sooner that's generally recognised the better.

End/Wednesday, October 4, 1995