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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the press conference given by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, at the Central Government Offices New Annexe Conference Hall after delivering his Policy Address in the Legislative Council today (October 12):
Reporter: In your speech there was a lot of mention about quality of life issues. Why that particular focus this year?
Chief Executive: I think it is a matter of great concern to the local community. The local community comprising both the ethnic Chinese group and expatriate elements. Many of them, in increasing numbers, have expressed to me the importance of environmental protection not only from the point of view of improving the quality of life but also as a fundamental asset in promoting Hong Kong as an international world city. I accept that argument. I think it is an important argument. It is one of the important attractions of Hong Kong that we maintain a quality of life across the board not only in terms of commercial environment but also physical environment in terms of air quality and water quality and so on. I think it will be an important and increasingly politically sensitive issue for the local population and I wish to address that issue as soon as possible.
Reporter: You mentioned that Hong Kong is opening a third representation in Europe. Where is it going to be and what is the reasoning behind it?
Chief Executive: The establishment of a new Economic and Trade Office in Europe is a reflection of our belief that Europe's economic activity itself is expanding eastward. It's now not only that we have seen enormous activity in London, in Brussels, in Western Europe, we are seeing it in emerging states, in Hungary, in the Czech [Republic], in Slovenia, and also now further down into Turkey. I think it is important that our representation should be augmented to reflect that change to enable Hong Kong to capture new economic growth, not only in the Mainland, but also in the rest of the world.
As far as the choice of destination is concerned, this is a matter of consideration by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology. There are a few capitals, a few cities that they are considering, but it will certainly be in the eastern part of Europe.
Reporter: Some pro-democracy lawmakers are saying that you are trying to consolidate power by ...
Chief Executive: Sorry, who said ...?
Reporter: Lee Cheuk-yan, and some pro-democracy lawmakers say you are trying to consolidate power, setting up a Permanent Secretary for the Chief Executive (CE)'s Office and also having a Director of the CE's Office deal with external affairs. How do you respond to that and who will be the Permanent Secretary for the CE's Office?
Chief Executive: Well, the whole idea of augmenting the CE's Office is a reflection of the need, which appears quite urgent in my view, following several years' experience. We need someone to be able to deal with, to listen to and to interact with political levels from LegCo, from political parties, from NPC representatives, from all sorts of bodies in Hong Kong which have a view to say. They need attention and for that reason an appointee by us, by me, for this purpose is very important. I also need someone to co-ordinate the work of my office so the files will move quickly, decisions will be taken promptly and action will be followed through, and there will be, as far as I am concerned, efficiency in the delivery of service and compliance of orders issued from the CE's Office. In this regard I need a Permanent Secretary. And as regards the question of media liaison, that is, as you all know, look at the number of people here in this room. I have been coming to press conferences throughout my working life. All I can see is an increase in size, in complexity, in representation. We do need dedicated resources to deal with that. For that reason I need an additional body. So it is not any drastic change, it is I think a marginal growth in response to genuine needs. As far as appointment, actually who is going to be appointed, this is a separate issue which I will have to deal with it separately.
Reporter: People are actually hoping that there will be initiatives to relieve them of their financial burden, like tax cuts, tax rebates, but those are lacking in your Policy Address. So can you tell us why? Do you think the time is not right for those things?
Chief Executive: This is a better job of the Financial Secretary. My job, as the Chief Executive, is outlining my world programme for the coming 20 months. As far as the financing of those plans, and how exactly it will be achieved, whether there will be an excess of revenue upon which we can make a tax concession is a matter for the Financial Secretary. Remember one thing. This is a Chief Executive who has been a Financial Secretary, who has been a Chief Secretary. He knows what exactly the Financial Secretary is thinking about and I want the Financial Secretary to be able to do his job fully without unnecessary intervention on my part. So I do not think it's the job of the Chief Executive to outline specific tax concessions in this Policy Address.
Reporter: You talk about strong governance, but you would be keenly aware that the ability of any Chief Executive to provide strong governance is undercut by not having an electoral mandate, yet you gave very short shrift in your speech today to constitutional development. So what specific idea and plans do you have in mind for increasing your own mandate as well as strengthening the political system?
Chief Executive: My mandate is given to me by the people under electoral arrangements as set out in the Basic Law. It is far from perfect, we realise it. This is an interim step, we realise it and we have a destination of universal suffrage that is a national policy. We are marching towards a final policy. The important thing is we are always on the move. Look at elections in Hong Kong. From the Chief Executive to the legislature, each and every time we have an election the election process becomes more open, more people participate in it, and more representatives. And the community as a whole becomes open, more vocal, and more demanding, and more feeling. I am sure this process will never stop. I outlined very clearly in my Policy Address that there would be the fifth report of the Task Force and that report will be coming very soon. It is not my job in this report to go into that in detail. It is a speech of one and a half hours long. I think it is long enough. I shall leave some space for the Chief Secretary for Administration to explain in detail what he proposes us to do. But I am fully behind the proposals. That proposal will represent a major step forward in the democratisation of Hong Kong and that, I think, is a real response, having consulted people widely, having listened very carefully to people's views. It will be put forward sincerely by the SAR Government as a step forward for the next election for Chief Executive in 2007 and the election of the next legislature in 2008.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Issued at HKT 20:07
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