TNAG-2392-FCO40-3478-Appointment-of-Chris-Patten-as-new-Governor-of-Hong-Kong--Ap-1992 — Page 25

24-PPR-1992 16:57

JAMES LEE

P.04

TRANSCRIPT B

MR.

CHRIS FATTEN

PC

LONDON

-

24 APRIL 1992

3

done as

my own first visit and I greatly respect his intellect, his knowledge of Hong Kong and China and the remarkable work he has

an official of the Foreign Office, as a distinguished

academic and latterly as Governor and I would want to build on the

work which he and his predecessors have done but I think to risk repeating myself, that it would be unwise of me to start sketching out my precise priorities before the sun has set on the day of my

appointment.

QUESTION (CHANNEL 4 NEWS):

You are known as a politician with a wry sense of humour and now

here you are under the wet blanket, so to speak, of the Foreign

Office. How, for example, are you going to treat reports of your

political suicide?

MR. PATTEN:

I am not sure whether if I had asked that question, you would have

regarded it as being an indication of my wry sense of humour or

would have thought that a lot of midnight oil had gone into the

question!

I am privileged once again to be working in a relationship to many

colleagues that I have known in the Foreign Office for many years.

I first worked for Douglas Hurd when he was Secretary of State in

Northern Ireland and I was a junior Minister. I, of course,

worked closely with the Prime Minister for a number of years. We

came into the House of Commons at the same time and he is a great