XN000022-1996-07-05 — Page 10

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Question: But then how come we do not hear anything of this sort in the mass media in Hong Kong?

Governor: I think we do hear a bit about the point you made about the state of the church in China. I mean I have certainly read that in some of the newspapers and of course in the international press as well, so I think we get reports of that. But I very much hope that the press will be robust and will exercise its freedom robustly in reporting the continuing activity of the churches in Hong Kong and in supporting the continuing activities of the churches in Hong Kong. Freedom of worship is one of the fundamentals of a free society and Hong Kong today is, I suppose, one of the freest societies anywhere in the world.

Question: No, I have not finished --

Presenter: We have to move on because we have many more calls to get through and the Governor has been very clear on that. And perhaps we should see more from the church leadership itself coming out and expressing its views about freedom of worship after 1997.

Question (Mr Wan): Over the past hundred years or so Britain has done something which it can be proud of in front of the whole world because it turned Hong Kong, a city of nothing, into a well renowned city, and also it has saved a lot of people running away from communism in China. But then Britain has also done something which is immoral and cruel and that is, for people who have had British passports now you are returning these people to a government without any civil liberties and human rights and when you do this you have not consulted the people of Hong Kong. These very basic rights are now taken away by Britain. Now, how can we be confident that Britain will still be protecting our rights in the future?

Governor: First of all on the first point, I think what Britain has done in Hong Kong is to provide, as it were, an infrastructure of laws and freedoms within which Chinese people themselves have created this success. As you say, people overwhelmingly refugees from some of the sad and tragic events to the north over the last 40 or 50

years.

Secondly, on the British passport, I think you probably know that I have spoken out on this issue, I have tried to stand up for Hong Kong both here and back in the United Kingdom, and it has not always made me very popular there. I agree with you that the British passport that people have in their pocket, over three million of them, should not only entitle them to travel more freely around the world but should also entitle them to the right of abode in the United Kingdom. I have said that again and again. What we have managed to do is to introduce under the British Nationality Scheme a scheme under which getting on for I suppose 150,000 people or thereabouts will be able to settle and live in Britain if they wish.

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