including both front page items and special pages. It has continued today, mainly in editorials but with some front page news when in conjunction with the Governor's trip to London. Today's HK Standard had a full page of photographs of Mr Patten, one with his family and others from earlier in
his career including busking as part of an electoral
campaign.
5.
The press conference and items on Mr Patten's career history all received widespread coverage. The general reaction is welcoming and supportive comments from London
(including those of the Chinese ambassador) all had fair
coverage. Local reactions from Exco/Legco, academics and commercial circles were widely reported. These highlighted
Mr Patten's close relationship with the Prime Minister and
Foreign Secretary. A typical comment was that reported from Emily Lau who said she was relieved with the appointment and
noted Mr Patten had good political connections and was a political heavyweight. She hoped Mr Patten would learn all he could about HK as quickly as possible.
6. On the down side, it was generally noted that Mr Patten
lacked experience of Hong Kong and of dealing with China. However, this was in the main rebuffed by comments such as those from Michael Sze who said that lack of experience did not matter as a man of his calibre would pick up his work very quickly. There was some airing of the "consolation prize" theme, but again, this was generally rebuffed. One notable exception was carried in Ming Pao who described the appointment as "mockery". The Association of Democracy and People's Livelihood and Meeting Point also regretted the decision, but these were lone voices in an otherwise
positive reaction.
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