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Follows is a transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, after a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien in Ottawa today (April 4, HK time).

Mr Tung: Good evening, how are you? I am delighted to be visiting Canada for the first time in my official capacity. I was very happy to have had the opportunity of meeting with the Prime Minister [Jean Chretien], the Foreign Minister [Lloyd Axworthy] and Minister of Finance [Paul Martin] and the Hong Kong-Canadian parliamentary group. We had a very wide range of discussions on subject matters which are of interest to both Hong Kong and Canada. It covered areas of economy, finance, trading. And as you know Hong Kong and Canada have a very close people-to-people relationship and I was very happy to have this opportunity to enhance this very important relationship, this cross-Pacific relationship. I am looking forward to the rest of my visit. I will leave Canada for the United States on Wednesday. Thank you very much.

Q: Why are you here and what have you accomplished?

Mr Tung: I thought I just said it (laughter).

Q: Are you seeking anything, seeking anything on trade?

Mr Tung: I'm here to really . . . As I said, there is a very important trade, economic relationship across the Pacific. And there are half a million people originally from Hong Kong who are now Canadian residents living here in Canada in this wonderful country. And there are 150,000 Canadians who are now living and working in Hong Kong, so it is a very important people-to-people relationship. I am not here to ask for anything specific, one way or the other, sir. It's important that we have a dialogue about this so both sides understand what we are doing and what more can be done to enhance this relationship.

Q: You have said you expect China to be in the World Trade Organisation by the end of this year. I'm wondering if you think this is still possible given the breakdown of talks between China and the European Union. Does that affect the timetable at all?

Mr Tung: The WTO accession discussions will always be time consuming but I remain optimistic about China's accession to the WTO and I remain optimistic about the timetable.

Q: By what standard would you say Hong Kong is more democratic than Taiwan, as you were quoted by some media in Hong Kong?

Mr Tung: What I said was this. The question was asked of me about democracy in Hong Kong. And what I said was this: democracy is about whether we as a government are accountable to the people. And I think in Hong Kong our government, every act we do, every measure we take, we are very accountable to the people. The government's operation is highly transparent. We have a very active legislature. We have a very active press which monitors the activities of the government. And in my view democracy is about being accountable to the people. And I find the Hong Kong government is very much accountable. The other point which I made is that democracy is also about every person being equal before the law, and therefor the rule of law is important, the independence of the judiciary is important. And I said from that point of view I think Hong Kong, in Hong Kong that is the case, that we are very much a society of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary is very strong and that compared with many others in Asia I think we are one of the best. And the point I made was that there was a survey done by Lingan University which actually said, from their point of view, and this is from their point of view not what I said, from their point of view, that 70 per cent of the people surveyed in Hong Kong think Hong Kong is more democratic.

Q: But then in Taiwan people still have the chance to vote for their own government and vote down their government if they think it is not . . .

Mr Tung: Of course, of course . . . I would be very happy to have a separate dialogue with you but I would here like to answer some questions.

Q: Mr Tung you said you want to enhance the people-to-people relationship in Canada but then there was one group in Toronto which has a strong concern about Hong Kong democracy, Hong Kong Link, you said you did not have time to see them during your visit. They said this demonstrates that you are again against democracy, or the voices of democracy or whatever, what's your response to that?

Mr Tung: Well let me say this I would not mind meeting anybody to have a discussion on any subject, I would be delighted to do so.

Q: Why didn't you do that?

Mr Tung: I have no idea, probably it is the time, it's not there?

Donald Tong (Director of HKETO Toronto): The invitation came on March 31.

Mr Tung: Oh, I see the letter came to us on March 31st, the programmes were already arranged. I would be happy if we could have a chance to talk to them.

Q: (In Chinese)

Mr Tung: The question that was being asked now was that did I discuss with the Prime Minister about whether Hong Kong would be used as a centre for illegal human trade. And the answer I gave was that, no we did not discuss this particular subject. But I just want to assure everybody that in Hong Kong we are absolutely determined to make sure that this does not happen in Hong Kong and we will not allow it to happen in Hong Kong.

Q: We would like to know your comments on the most important views for co-operation between Hong Kong and Canada. And what's your comment on the significance for the two sides in co-operation. And what is the most important views for co-operation between Hong Kong and Canada.

Mr Tung: I think the relationship between Hong Kong and Canada is a very important relationship. I said earlier on that human relationship, that half a million Hong Kong Chinese who have become Canadian, made Canada their home and there are 150,000 Canadians who have made Hong Kong their home and are working from Hong Kong. I think the future opportunities for Canadian firms are many in Asia as most of the countries in Asia recover from the financial turmoil of the past two and a half years. I also think that commercial opportunities for Canadian companies will increase as a result of China's accession to the WTO. And I think Hong Kong will be an excellent base for Canadian firms who want to expand their business activities in Asia as a whole and on the Mainland of China.

Q: Tomorrow is the 10th Anniversary of the Basic Law. Is it that the Hong Kong government will expect protests or other. . .

Mr Tung: Well tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of the [promulgation of the] Basic Law and I am delighted to tell you that the Basic Law, which provides the constitutional framework for 'One Country, Two Systems' is working very well in Hong Kong and that basically the freedoms that are so important to Hong Kong are being protected. The independence of the judiciary is being protected. The management, we have a separate management of finance and monetary affairs. So come to see us in Hong Kong, to see how well it is working. Thank you very much.

Chief Executive's transcript in Ottawa, Canada (Chinese part)

Ends/Tuesday, April 4, 2000

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