XN000022-1996-01-09 — Page 11

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Mr Rifkind: That particular suggestion was one raised by Martin Lee in LegCo yesterday. I said that in the hypothetical circumstances that he was referring to, obviously if there was any specific action which was available which might influence events in a positive way, of course we would wish to look at that to see whether it would indeed help. But this is all very speculative and hypothetical and what we are anxious to do at this moment is to work towards persuading our Chinese colleagues to take actions only that would inspire confidence and not that would damage confidence in Hong Kong.

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Announcement welcomed

In response to press enquiries, a government spokesman today (Tuesday) welcomes the announcement in Peking by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, the Rt Hon Malcolm Rifkind, on an agreement with the Chinese Government on the issue of the passports of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

"The agreement demonstrates that both sides are committed to making the HKSAR passport a success," he said.

"It gives assurances to the integrity of the production and distribution systems of the passports and should help to promote acceptability of the passports and continuation of travel convenience for Hong Kong residents.

"This will also enable the Hong Kong Immigration Department to make preparations for the issue of the passports from July 1, 1997."

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