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THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1991
ATTENTION NEWS EDITORS:
THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE GIVEN THE GOVERNOR, SIR DAVID WILSON, TODAY (THURSDAY):
BY *
GOVERNOR : THANK YOU ALL FIRST OF ALL FOR COMING ALONG AT RATHER SHORT NOTICE THIS AFTERNOON, I WANTED TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE AGREEMENT ON THE AIRPORT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. PERHAPS I SHOULD START BY SAYING THAT EARLIER THIS WEEK I WAS IN THE UNFORTUNATE POSITION THAT I HAD TO SAY TO THE PRESS THAT I HAD NO NEW STATEMENT TO MAKE; I AM GLAD THAT TODAY I HAVE GOT A CHANCE TO MAKE A NEW STATEMENT.
BEFORE I DEAL WITH ANY QUESTIONS LET ME JUST GIVE SOME OF THE BACKGROUND AND PICK OUT ONE OR TWO OF THE POINTS WHICH SEEM TO ME TO BE IMPORTANT. THE BACKGROUND, THE AIRPORT, IT'S BEEN AROUND WITH US FOR A LONG TIME, THIS QUESTION OF WHETHER TO BUILD A NEW AIRPORT, IT'S NOT JUST A RECENT MATTER. WAY BACK IN THE LATE 1970'S, EARLY 1980'S, HONG KONG WAS PLANNING FOR A NEW AIRPORT AND IT WAS ONLY IN 1983, BECAUSE OF VERY DIFFICULT FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES AT THAT TIME, AN UNCERTAIN. POLITICAL SITUATION, THAT THE AIRPORT PROJECT WAS THEN POSTPONED. AND IT WAS PICKED UP AGAIN IN 1986, LOOKED AT VERY THOROUGHLY INDEED FROM THEN ONWARDS – AND YOU WILL REMEMBER THAT BACK IN OCTOBER OF 1988, IN MY ANNUAL ADDRESS TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, I SAID THAT WE WOULD BE TAKING A DECISION ON WHETHER TO GO AHEAD WITH A NEW AIRPORT BY THE END OF THE FOLLOWING YEAR. AND INDEED THAT WAS WHAT WE DID, IN THE LEGCO ADDRESS OF OCTOBER 1989 I SAID THAT WE HAD CONCLUDED THAT IT WAS RIGHT TO GO AHEAD WITH A NEW AIRPORT AT CHEK LAP KOK AND WE HAVE BEEN DOING A GREAT DEAL OF WORK ON THE MATTER SINCE THEN.
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ANOTHER BACKGROUND POINT IS THAT IT'S LONG BEEN APPARENT THAT UNLESS WE HAD SOME DEGREE OF CHINESE POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE PROJECT, WE WERE GOING TO HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH THE SORT OF PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT AND INVOLVEMENT THAT WE NEED, IF THIS IS GOING TO BE AN ECONOMIC PROJECT FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE HONG KONG TAXPAYERS. SO WE NEEDED THAT SORT OF POSITIVE ATTITUDE. AND IN ORDER TO TRY ACHIEVE THAT AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF SOME INITIAL CRITICISM FROM CHINA, WE HAVE HAD VERY DETAILED CLOSE DISCUSSIONS OVER A PERIOD NOW OF SOMETHING LIKE NINE MONTHS, SINCE OCTOBER OF LAST YEAR. THOSE DISCUSSIONS HAVE INVOLVED DIFFERENT GROUPS OF PEOPLE; THERE HAVE BEEN GROUPS OF HONG KONG EXPERTS ALONE, THERE HAVE BEEN JOINT GROUPS BETWEEN THE UK AND HONG KONG, THE FOREIGN SECRETARY, MR DOUGLAS HURD, HIMSELF WAS INVOLVED; I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED MYSELF ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS; AND THEN IN THIS FINAL LAP IT HAS INVOLVED SIR PERCY CRADOCK, THE FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER TO THE PRIME MINISTER. BUT THERE IS ONE IMPORTANT POINT IN ALL OF THIS, THROUGHOUT THAT WHOLE PROCESS, WHOEVER THE PEOPLE INVOLVED HAVE BEEN, THAT THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT AND THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL HAVE BEEN VERY CLOSELY INVOLVED, VERY CLOSELY CONSULTED IN THAT WHOLE PROCESS.
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WE HAVE NOW GOT THIS NEW AGREEMENT IN THE FORM OF A MEMORANDUM UNDERSTANDING, WHICH HAS NOW BEEN INITIALLED; IT IS DUE ΤΟ ΒΕ
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