XN000022-1997-03-10 — Page 2

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Governor's statement on schoolbook revision

In response to enquiries about reported remarks by the Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr Qian Qichen, about revising Hong Kong schoolbooks that do not conform with China's principles, the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, said:

"Naturally school children will need to be taught after 1997 about their new sovereign power, about the Joint Declaration, the Basic Law and One Country, Two Systems. This has already begun.

"But if Mr Qian is suggesting more than this, his statement raises some disturbing questions.

"The Joint Declaration and the Basic Law guarantee HK's autonomy in educational matters after 1997. They are clear that educational policies are to be set by the HKSARG, and not to be vetted for political correctness by Chinese officials. The Joint Declaration and the Basic Law certainly say nothing about rewriting history books - and nor do any other agreements between Britain and China.

"In a free society, teachers are not told what facts they can teach and what facts it is politically wrong for them to teach. This is a time when responsible spokesmen should be saying things which increase confidence in the future, not raise questions about it. But since Mr Qian has made these remarks, perhaps he could be clear what he has in mind."

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Human Rights Watch's allegations groundless

In response to a report released by Human Rights Watch/Asia yesterday (Sunday), a Government spokesman said today (Monday) that the allegations made were totally groundless.

"Hong Kong has studiously followed the internationally agreed Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) in dealing with the problem of Vietnamese refugees (VRs) and Vietnamese migrants (VMs)," the spokesman said.

"Hong Kong has maintained a policy of first asylum, screening Vietnamese asylum seekers on arrival to determine their status, resettling those found to be refugees, and returning those found not to be refugees home to Vietnam in accordance with the provisions of the CPA.