XN000022-1996-02-01 — Page 17

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But I hope that the PLA Garrison will behave with the same discipline and courtesy and restraint which has been shown by and large over the years by the British Garrison. And I very much hope that my successor, the Chief Executive, will find as I've found, that there is no need for anybody ever to question me or question him or her about the role of the Garrison. I am in a rather different position to the Chief Executive because I am Commander in Chief as well as Governor but I hope that the relationship between the Chief Executive and the distinguished General who is commanding the Chinese Garrison will be so close that the constitutional difference won't matter.

Mr Leung Yiu-chung (in Chinese): Mr President, recently, many people said that in the new term of the Council there are many labour representatives in this Council and the Democrats are fighting for the benefits of the workers and some investors will no longer invest in Hong Kong. Yesterday, the same argument was put forward before this Council and today, some Members also reiterated this point. And these views were also reflected to the Chinese Government.

In the Preparatory Committee we discover that the majority of the Preparatory Committee members come from the business sector. The people from the grassroots and also the workers are very concerned. Will the rights and benefits of the workers in future be reinstated so that what people are now enjoying will be taken away? They are very worried. How is the Governor going to solve this problem for the grassroots people?

Governor: I don't want to sound ideologically hostile to Marxist or Leninist ideology but one of the reasons for Hong Kong's success over the years is that it has never been subjected to a class war; it has never had to endure class war politics. As I said earlier, politics have been incredibly moderate and people have proceeded on the basis of co- operation and consensus wherever possible.

I don't think that it is only union members or representatives who care about the well-being of workers. There would be no centre-right government in the world if that was the case. And we all know of employers who have played leading roles in improving not only the conditions of work but the social conditions beyond of their work force.

Above all, of course, what employees want is a job. And in order to have a job they need an employer who can run a business in a competitive way and make enough profit to invest in the future. And that is a factor that we need to bear in mind when considering developments of labour policy and labour market policy here in Hong Kong.