XN000022-1997-02-19 — Page 2

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Transcript of Governor's media session

Following is the transcript of a media session given by the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, following his visit to Sham Shui Po District this (Wednesday) afternoon:

Governor: Good afternoon. The last time I came to Sham Shui Po I came unannounced was interesting, today, to see some of the problems that I saw unannounced a few months ago. And there are some of the biggest housing and social problems that we have in Hong Kong in this district and I was pleased to meet so many members of the District Board and the District Committees who are working so hard to try to tackle those problems.

Question: Governor, did Tung Chee Hwa pass to you the list of important officials ...?

Governor: I think that Mr Tung will be showing his list to Chinese leaders and that is the correct thing to do. Obviously, I think we share with Mr Tung, as I said last night, the desire that there should be the greatest continuity for the Civil Service. I would like to see as much as possible of a through-train for the Civil Service. We are, today, served by an outstandingly good Civil Service which is very well led and I hope that Mr Tung will benefit from that advantage in the future. So I think that the whole community wants to see the maximum continuity and that would be clearly in the interests of Hong Kong.

Question: Have his team actually seen the list?

Governor: I'm not sure there is a list in Hong Kong.

Question: But Mr C.H. Tung has told you...

Governor: We have regular discussions and contacts between the Administration and Mr Tung but I don't want to go into details about exactly what he has said at every occasion.

Question: ... Chinese sources say that Beijing has indeed approved the list --

Governor: Good.

Question: What is your response to that?