LORD CAITHNESS' INTERVIEW WITH CATHERINE NAPIER, DATELINE
EAST ASIA: MONDAY 10 JUNE 1991
Q: Can I just start off by asking you about Douglas Hurd's
last trip to Peking. He went there to talk about the airport. When he came back he said in Hong Kong that it wouldn't be a question of an airport at any price for Hong Kong. Now since then it seems that both sides are said to have made concessions. Is that still the government's position?
A:
Q:
A:
Well Douglas Hurd went to talk about a lot of things because we are partners with China within the P5, we have relations with them about the Middle East, about Cambodia the important peace talks that are going on there and of course Hong Kong plays a very important part. So it was more than just Hong Kong we were talking about. Although, inevitably, given the current situation, there was considerable talk about the airport, the proposed airport. Now what has been agreed is that Hong Kong needs a new airport, China wants that, we want that. China wants prosperity and long term stability for Hong Kong, we want exactly the same. So there's a lot of common ground between China and Britain. Of course then you start looking at the nitty gritty details and in any negotiation it is always the nitty gritty that takes the most time and where the differences start to occur. Now those we want to resolve by negotiation.
But is the airport in danger of being scrapped because this is what at least one senior government official in Hong Kong has said off the record?
Well we know that Hong Kong needs a new airport. Anybody that's been to Kai Tak can see that it's nearly saturated, will be saturated and with modern aircraft and the increased amount of air traffic, Hong Kong
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