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Following is the transcript of a media session this (October 24) afternoon by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, to announce the visit of astronaut Yang Liwei:
You may remember that when I was in Bangkok, I suggested to President Hu that we would very much like to invite astronaut Yang to visit Hong Kong. The Central Government has now accepted my suggestion. Astronaut Yang will be arriving in Hong Kong on October 31 and will be accompanied by a group of space scientists and engineers. The group will be here for about four days. While they are here, the Government will organise a series of activities, including a large space exhibition at the Science Museum. A show will feature Shenzhou V's re-entry capsule, the landing parachute and the astronaut's spacesuit as well as the meals that were taken in space.
Astronaut Yang, the scientists and the engineers will have plenty of opportunities to meet people of all walks of life here in Hong Kong, including, of course, the media. They will explain the development of our country's space programme and share their personal feelings about this historic mission. The Government has also agreed with a number of community groups on some of the other activities. I have asked Patrick Ho, the Secretary for Home Affairs, to go to Beijing yesterday to sort out all the details of the arrangements. And I understand these have been sorted out. All in all, it's a golden opportunity for the entire Hong Kong community to celebrate together this achievement. I also hope that astronaut Yang will be left with a good impression of Hong Kong and the visit will be a very successful one. Thank you very much.
End/Friday, October 24, 2003
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(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
