*********************************************************
Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, at a media session at the ground floor lobby of the Office of the Chief Executive today (April 13):
Reporter: Mr Leung, do these changes reflect the Government or the Central Government bowing to pressure created by the recent protest? And some people suggest that these changes won't eliminate the problem of parallel trading? Will there be scope for further refinement in the future?
Chief Executive: Actually, much of the uncivilised protest actions that took place in the past months have been counter-productive as far as Government's efforts are concerned. We put forward our proposals to the central authorities back in June last year. It's now nearly a year since we put forward these proposals. The reason why it's taken nearly a year for the central authorities to make the announcement that they made this morning is partly because this is a major move. Secondly, there is preparatory work to be done. But thirdly, and this is an important issue too, the unruly protests by certain members of our community have been counter-productive.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, April 13, 2015
Issued at HKT 11:12
NNNN
Windows Media format
Flash format