XN000022-1996-03-04 — Page 4

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The next 400-500 days are self-evidently going to be a testing time for Hong Kong, Hong Kong has shown its courage and its persistence on many occasions in the past. It will need to do so again over the next 500 days or so. I've no doubt that it will do so. And neither do I have any doubt, if he will permit me to say so, that in the Governor, Hong Kong could not have a better representative of Hong Kong's views both with London and with China and with other countries. So I think you will remain in very good hands and the Governor will continue to have the direct and immediate access to London that he has always enjoyed.

I think those are the only preliminary points I wish to make. Let us now see if we can field some of your questions. I will let the Governor, by far the highest quality - if my present Press Officer will forgive me by far the highest quality press officer I've ever had, to select the questioners because he will know them rather better than I do, with the exception of a small present minority.

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Question (Chris Yeung, SCMP): Prime Minister, you just spoke firmly and clearly (about) the British commitment to Hong Kong but can you also be equally firm and clear that in the UK Government's will, the Chinese plan to set up a provisional legislature and dilute the Bill or Rights is a breach of the Joint Declaration?

Prime Minister: Well, I touched upon those points earlier and I reiterate them again today. I don't have any doubt at all in my mind that it would be a very grave mistake were LegCo not to proceed right to the end of their natural elected life. I don't think we could, or would, understand if LegCo's life were cut in half in 1997. And neither do I believe the world at large would understand that. There is now an elective democracy in Hong Kong. The present LegCo were elected with a very substantial popular vote. They were elected to do a particular job and I believe they should be permitted to see that job through to its conclusion. Those points have long been put privately to the Chinese leaders. I have made the point entirely publicly. We will do all we can to persuade China that that is the right way to proceed, both in China's interest, for the world would not understand anything else were it to happen in 1997, and also in the interest of people in Hong Kong.

There are of course allied matters on human rights and on the Bill of Rights and I won't reiterate what I said at lunch-time. I think it's probably quite clear.

Question (Sally Blyth, Eastern Express): Mr Major, the guarantees which you gave today to the ethnic minorities, do they actually differ from earlier guarantees which were given by Sir Geoffrey Howe during Parliamentary debates, about ten years ago I think, when he said that the British Government would look favourably upon any application by any of the ethnic minorities here, so that they could enter Britain and the British Government would look favourably upon that? How does the guarantee today differ from that?