XN000022-1995-10-12 — Page 7

J

Dr Cheung Bing-leung (in Chinese): Mr Governor, in your Policy Address you reiterated the point that you will help in the preparation work of the SAR and this SÁR PC. Could I know exactly what you are talking about? Now, we have the SAR PC and we have got PWC people saying that one of the most important jobs of the Preparatory Committee is to set up the provisional legislature, so will your assistance go to that extent as well?

Governor: Let me deal with the second point first. I have been asked questions about it from time to time in the past and just in case I haven't made myself as clear as I would like to have done, let me say, once again, that there can be no question under any conceivable circumstances of the Hong Kong Government, or for that matter the Government of the present sovereign, doing anything to undermine the authority of this legitimately constituted Legislative Council. There can, therefore, be no question of us assisting in the - (pause) - production -- I'm not quite sure what word to use -- of some alternative whose genesis in relation to the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law is, to me, decidedly unclear. So as far as I am concerned, there is one Legislative Council and it is meeting here, and there is every reason why it should go on meeting here until 1999, and I think that is the overwhelming view of the international community - as well as the community here in Hong Kong, even more to the point.

As to the co-operation elsewhere with the Preparatory Committee, we have made clear that the Preparatory Committee emerges from the sacred texts, emerges from the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. The Preparatory Committee has an important job to do in paving the way for the Chief Executive designate and his or her team. We've suggested the establishment of a Liaison Office to work with the Preparatory Committee to provide it with information, and the exact way in which we operate, the exact mode of working, we will obviously want to discuss with the Secretariat of the Preparatory Committee when it is established, and with the Preparatory Committee itself. But I think that this Council and the whole community would expect us to be as helpful and co-operative as possible.

Let me just add one other thing. I don't wish to pre-empt the decision that others make but I imagine it is conceivable that there may well be members of this Council on the Preparatory Committee and members of this Council will therefore be receiving information that we give to the Preparatory Committee and will, I'm sure, not expect us to give information to the Preparatory Committee which this Council doesn't know about.

Dr Cheung Bing-leung (in Chinese): Mr Governor, you said that you will be assisting the Preparatory Committee, you will be giving them information. Does that mean that you will give them information only, and not assist in any other way?

i!

11.