XN000022-1996-04-01 — Page 2

- 1 -

Transcript of the Governor's media session

Following is the transcript of the media session by the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, after opening the Regional Council 10th Anniversary this (Monday) afternoon:

Governor: I'm going to be answering questions after ExCo tomorrow, but I'll answer a couple of questions.

Question: Is there a deal between Britain and China which would allow those who are permanent Hong Kong residents before 1997 to enjoy the same status?

Governor: No. No. There was a headline in one of the papers today saying there had been a deal. If you like to look at the transcript of what I said, I made it absolutely clear that these were extremely important matters and should be settled on their merits. So the decision by the British Government to allow visa-free access to SAR passport holders was taken on its own terms; there was no question of any linkage. What I did say was that that decision had been taken finally after Mr Rifkind's meeting in Peking with Mr Qian Qichen. And obviously the reassurance that Mr Rifkind was given helped the British Government to make its decision. But there was no linkage and I think if you look at the transcript of what I said, I didn't just say that implicitly, I said it explicitly. One more question.

Question: Should the statement issued by the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office to try to clarify the neutrality of the civil service erase those worries that have been made by the unnamed source?

Governor: I didn't throw the rock into the pool. It's for those who caused these concerns to set them at rest. If people say things at tea parties which are unwise, then it's perhaps sensible that they say things on the record after tea parties which are more wise. But I know that the Chief Secretary has said how valuable it would be if next time he visits Hong Kong, Director Lu Ping could meet her and discuss what we should all want, which is a smooth transition for our civil service which is one of the reasons for Hong Kong's success and one of the best civil services in the world.

Question: That means you don't want to join two of them's meeting?