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The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, today (November 3, London time) urged the British Government to use its influence to help achieve progress in global trade talks.
During a meeting with Mr Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Trade, Mr Tsang said Hong Kong was fully committed to delivering a Ministerial Conference that was successful in terms of both substance and logistics. He said the World Trade Organisation could not afford to have two failed Ministerial Conferences in a row. He added that the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr John Tsang, and his team had been working earnestly throughout the year in preparation for the Sixth Ministerial Conference (MC6) in Hong Kong next month.
The Chief Executive was, however, concerned that the entire Doha Development Agenda might be held hostage to agriculture. It was therefore imperative that the UK, being the current president of the EU, should exert its influence on the member states to move further on agriculture. In that regard, a G4 meeting (involving the US, the EU, India and Brazil) on November 7 in London was crucial in unlocking the impasse.
Mr Pearson assured him that the UK would do everything it possibly could to ensure a good outcome for MC6.
Earlier in the day, Mr Tsang explained the efforts being made towards constitutional development in Hong Kong at a Wilton Park Conference in West Sussex.
He outlined the package of measures contained in the Fifth Report of the Constitutional Development Task Force to broaden the electoral francise for the 2007 and 2008 elections.
"My aim is to ensure that the arrangements for these next two major elections are more open and inclusive; and also to lay the foundations for further development of our own 'Made in Hong Kong' model of democracy.
"The new package of proposals is our immediate political challenge. It is a defining moment for political development in Hong Kong. What happens next sets the scene for our future reform efforts. If we don't succeed in steering this package through the Legislative Council, then the status quo remains. The hard work over the past two years, of intensive and widespread consultation and of putting the proposals together, will be lost.
"Worse, the mutual trust we have taken pains to build between the Central Government and ourselves, the trust we need to take our democratisation forward, will dissipate."
After his return to London, Mr Tsang told the media that while Hong Kong's constitutional development was a matter for China and Hong Kong, he recognised that it was also a matter of interest to many of Hong Kong's trading partners. The Hong Kong SAR Government had been explaining the package to them, and he had heard many views.
"The US Government wants Hong Kong to have universal suffrage as soon as possible. This has always been their position," he said.
"As to the UK, on Wednesday the Prime Minister said that on the democratisation front, Hong Kong has always made progress since reunification. Lord Falconer (the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor) also expressed his opinion on the Fifth Report, which he regarded as constructive and progressive."
In the afternoon, the Chief Executive was interviewed by television journalist Mr Stephen Sackur for the BBC program HARDtalk.
In the evening, Mr Tsang was guest of honour at a joint performance of music and dance by students of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Ends/Friday, November 4, 2005
Issued at HKT 10:35
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