XN000022-1996-07-05 — Page 22

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Governor: I will just say really what I said again on CAPO very briefly. The Complaints Commission is independent. We want to give it its statutory independence. The question is whether the head of CAPO, the organisation which investigates complaints, should be a civilian or not. I don't think there is a very strong - well, there is a strongly felt case for that - I don't think there is an overwhelmingly good argument for that. I think it would be very difficult to parachute a civilian in to lead a disciplined services organisation like that. I don't think it would put him in a very good position. What we want is an organisation which itself has maximum credibility and that is what we are determined to ensure is the case.

On RTHK, I don't myself think that whether or not you corporatise RTHK would have all that much impact on its independence, even though theoretically it would be more independent than it is in its present legal state. I think we have at the moment in RTHK an independent-minded, fair-minded organisation. Like the BBC in the UK it provides fair coverage of everybody's point of view and I hope that will continue after 1997. I am not sure how much difference it would make really whether it was corporatised. You can, I suppose, without being too provocative, think of media organisations in Hong Kong which are independent, which are private, but which do not perhaps provide as balanced a news presentation as RTHK.

Question: I do appreciate very much your fight for the democracy of Hong Kong and I also believe that you will be the last Governor of Hong Kong and will be the one to hand over Hong Kong to China. But I want to give you a very brief analogy. Please do not take offence. You have two daughters...

Governor: Three.

Question: and without their wishes, will you be forcing them to get married to a criminal who has been killing a thousand-odd people a year? I don't think you would do that. But remember, you are going to hand over the people of Hong Kong to Communist China on June 30 next year against their will. Will you consider giving them a choice?

And another question is, I wish and I hope you become the Prime Minister of the UK in the future, and will you consider letting these people get the ... boat and ... in UK when you become the Prime Minister?