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Following is the transcript of the media session by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, after attending the "Symposium in Commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the Promulgation of the Basic Law of the HKSAR --- The Historic and International Implications of 'One Country, Two Systems'" this (April 1) morning (English part):

Reporter: ... comments on recent developments in Taiwan. What are you going to tell your guests in the States?

Mr Tung: I am going to leave later this afternoon for the United States and for Canada. My first stop is going to be Toronto. I will have opportunities to meet the leaders in areas of commerce, finance, as well as, of course, government officials. While there, I will be explaining to them what has transpired in the last two and a half years since the return of Hong Kong. I will be saying that "One Country, Two Systems" is being very successfully implemented and that we are strongly coming out of the recession caused by the Asian financial turmoil. I will also take the opportunity in America to explain to them how important China's entry to the WTO is for Hong Kong. I will also explain to them, given the fact that Asian economy is recovering, Hong Kong's economy is recovering, given our push to innovation and technology, given that China will be joining the WTO later in the year, there will be lots of opportunities for Canadian and American companies in Hong Kong. Taking the opportunities while I am there, I will also be visiting Los Angeles to meet with the Disney. In Toronto and in Los Angeles, I will be spending some time to learn about how these two great cities tackle environmental problems, particularly in Los Angeles where over a ten-year period they have been able to cure the air pollution problems. I hope I will be able to learn something from them. Thereafter, I will expect to take a bit of holiday and come back to Hong Kong. So that is the first part and the second part is about Taiwan. I was explaining away about how do you compare Taiwan and Hong Kong. The point I make is that we all have different history, different backgrounds of history and different backgrounds in our development. One thing is certain that we will not allow money in politics, not today, not in the future. This will not happen in Hong Kong. And the fact is that after 156 years, Hong Kong is now moving forward under the "One Country, Two Systems". The Basic Law gives us ten years to find a political road map which is most suited for Hong Kong. We all aspire to democracy and, in fact, the people of Hong Kong also want to be sure that there is prosperity and there is stability. It is important that everybody is equal before the law and in this respect the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary are very important. I think Hong Kong has done a tremendous job in this respect. It is also important that we as a government are accountable to the people. You know how the government operate is very transparent and given the degree of freedom we have with our press, we as a government are constantly being looked at by the press and by the people at large. I want to make sure that Hong Kong will continue to be like that. In all these areas, I think Hong Kong is better than almost anywhere in Asia or around the world. I am very proud of it. These are the essence of democracy. All I want to tell you is that there was a recent survey that was carried out by the Lingnan University and a Hong Kong youth association. Seventy per cent of the people in the survey think Hong Kong's democracy is better than some of the other places. Thank you all very much.

Chief Executive's transcript (Chinese Part)

End/Saturday, April 1, 2000

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