XN000022-1997-03-18 — Page 4

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Governor: Well I have just set out in some detail what the Prime Minister's Government have signed up to: A solemn and binding treaty in which they make commitments to Britain and to the people of Hong Kong about the way Hong Kong is going to be governed. I think, as I have said on many occasions, that the whole world will be looking at how China implements the Joint Declaration as a sort of litmus test of how China is going to behave on the international stage and how it is going to live up to its other undertakings and agreements.

Reporter: But if after 1 July the Chinese are not, as you see it, as the British Government sees it, biding by this agreement, what happens then if they say to you, "Look, we told you, mind your own business"? There is nothing you can do is there?

Governor: What Britain would then have to do, as the Prime Minister has made clear, is to take up its concerns on the international stage. And I can assure you there would be other countries who would be as concerned as Britain, though Britain would have a primary responsibility as the co-signatory to the Joint Declaration.

Reporter: Is Britain going to be raising concern about this issue during the London JLG session?

Governor: I think we will, during the JLG session, remind Chinese officials of what the Joint Declaration means.

Reporter: Some legislators called for..... on the role of the JLG. Is it possible?

Governor: No, I have just explained what the role of the JLG is. There is no hidden agenda about the future role of the JLG. The JLG's role is set out very clearly at Annex II - I think it is Articles 2 and 3 of the Joint Declaration. It makes it absolutely plain what the JLG's role is going to be after 1 July, just as it is plain what its role has been before 1 July.

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Reporter: I seems that the Labour Party will take over the government - it's highly likely that the Labour Party will take over the government in the May Election. Will it affect the monitoring role of the British Government after July 1 and will it affect .....?

Governor: Well! You know the result already! How extraordinary. I can't, of course, speculate on the outcome of the British General Election. But it is, I think, a matter of considerable satisfaction in Hong Kong that the policy that we have pursued in the territory has had cross-party support and has had consistent support from the Labour and Liberal Democratic Parties as well as from the Conservative Party. So I don't think that if there were to be a change of government, I don't think that would make any difference to what I have just been saying.