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AND THE ACTUAL TERMS FOR IT ARE STILL SOME WAY DOWN THE ROAD.
Q.
(JAMES TAM, SING PAO): YOU SAID THERE HAS BEEN TALKS, BETWEEN THE UK AND THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS, COULD YOU TELL US WHY WE IN HONG KONG WERE NOT INFORMED ABOUT THE TALKS
GOING ON AND THE LEGCO MEMBERS ARE DISCUSSING THE ISSUE ON THE ONE
HAND AND THERE IS TALKS GOING ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD?
A:
-
WELL, YES, I AM AFRAID THAT A WRONG IMPRESSION MAY HAVE BEEN CREATED BY THIS. WE HAVE IN FACT BEEN DISCUSSING FOR SOME TIME WITH OTHER COUNTRIES AND WITH THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISIONER FOR REFUGEES LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM WITH THE AIM OF A CONCERTED, COLLECTIVE APPROACH. AS FOR THE DISCREPANCY OF INFO-
MATION, I CAN ONLY SAY THAT THIS WAS A PIECE OF OUT-OF-DATE NEWS THAT WAS PROVIDED BY A PRESS OFFICER PROBABLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WHEN HE WAS RUNG UP AND IT IS REGRETTABLE THAT THAT OCCURRED. BUT THE IMPORTANT THING NOW IS THAT THE ISSUE HAS TO BE STRAIGHTENED OUT AND I HAVE MADE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR TO YOU THAT WE HAVE BEEN CONDUCTING THESE DISCUSSIONS OVER A PERIOD OF TIME AND WITH OTHER COUNTRIES WITH A VIEW TO TRYING TO ACHIEVE THE ENDS WHICH WE ALL WANT.
-
(MAMES TAM): SO WOULD YOU INFORM US MORE FREQUENTLY ON THE
PROGRESS OF APPROACHES?
A: WELL, IF THERE IS ANY MATTER UPON WHICH WE CAN ENSURE THAT MORE REGULAR INFORMATION IS SUPPLIED, THEN CERTAINLY WE CAN DO SO. I DON'T ACTUALLY DETECT THERE IS IN GENERAL TERMS A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AMONGST EITHER THE PRESS OR THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SPHERES.
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