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Did you issue any invitations to any of the Chinese leaders to visit
Hong Kong?
H.E. No, I did not.
misunderstand my reply.
Why I am hesitating is I don't want you to
One or two of them said they would come.
They
were not the top people. They said they wanted to come or they might
come. I naturally said we would be delighted to see them.
B
A..
A.
Q.
Was the N.T. lease ever brought up?
It was a
H.E. No. You must understand the context of the visit.
goodwill visit, not a negotiating visit and it wouldn't have been an appropriate occasion to raise the long term future of Hong Kong and we
did not do so.
Deng Xiaoping said to you that investors in Hong Kong need have no fear.
What significance do you attach to that?
H.E. I think it was a most encouraging statement. It suggested a
complete understanding of the economic importance of Hong Kong to China,
the need for investment in Hong Kong, if its role was to be performed and if Hong Kong was to progress up the level of sophistication which we all wanted and which undoubtedly would be to China's advantage to achieve.
It was, I thought, a most realistic and helpful comment for the record.
I wonder about the legal immigration situation. Overall, do you actually feel encouraged about the short term prospects of legal immigration or not after your visit? Whether you came out feeling considerably better
or not?
A.
H.E.:
Well I got direct statements from leaders, and I mean leaders, that
more will be done. I think it will be done. What I am not so sure about is how quickly it will be done and time is beginning to matter to us. We will have to wait and see how this goes, but I think the important
thing is that we meet and discuss.
Q.
How soon will that happen?
A.
H.E.: I don't know but it must be soon.
Q.
Will there be a follow up visit or will this be the last visit you malte
to China?
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