XN000022-1996-01-27+28 — Page 9

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Transcript of the Governor's media session

Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten after participating in the Walk for Millions this (Sunday) morning:

Question: Would you confirm that ... Mr John Major ... Mr Qian ...

Governor: No. There's a long-standing invitation to him to come to Hong Kong and obviously I hope he will be able to do so before June 30, 1997, but there's no definite plan at the moment.

Question: Do you think the credibility of the preparatory committee ...

Governor: That's not for me. I hope that it will demonstrate its credibility by the extent to which it speaks up for Hong Kong and represents the opinions of Hong Kong and clearly one reason why we were a little disappointed that it wasn't more representative was that there is a lot of opinion in Hong Kong, for example, the Democratic Party, the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong which isn't represented on it. But I very much hope that through its own work and through its efforts and through the extent to which it reflects opinion in Hong Kong, it will show its credibility. We obviously all want it to do a good job. The Government, we are keen to co-operate with it wherever possible.

Question: Since the Liaison office has been established, how do you co-operate with the PC?

Governor: We've made it clear that the liaison office will be the point of contact with the preparatory committee. I am sure that we'll work out sensible arrangements for co- operation. My own guess is that we'll obviously want to be co-operating on a more extensive range of issue once there is a Chief Executive Designate and a Team Designate because there will be far more practical business of government to get on with. But if in the meantime the preparatory committee wants information or assistance, we'll be providing that in the most transparent way possible.

End