Following is the transcript of the press conference held by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, after addressing an Asia Society luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on September 11 (Thursday, US time):

Mr Tung: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, good to see you. We arrived last night from Washington and this morning I had a breakfast gathering with the Council on Foreign Relations, nice discussion with the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal and, as many of you did,

participated in the lunch given by the Asia Society and Hong Kong Association and US-China National Committee etc etc. The purpose of my visit in New York is really to see some old friends, to explain to our friends how things are going in Hong Kong, how well we are doing and to renew friendship, to strengthen friendship because US-Hong Kong

relationship is very important and this afternoon I have one or two more rounds to do, dinner with the Economic Club of New York before turning in and tomorrow morning as you know I will be going back to Washington before coming back to New York, catch a plane to go back to Hong Kong. It's been a rather rushed visit to New York, a home for me for eight years. Unfortunately I did not have a chance to walk around and see a whole lot of things I would like to see but I would hope that I would have another chance of doing that.

Question (Francis Moriarty, RTHK): (Question on the US-HK dollar peg and on suggestions by Malaysian PM Mahathir to reassess or review the United Nations Charter on Human Rights).

Mr Tung: Francis, on the first point, the peg has served us well in Hong Kong and the peg will stay and I know peg will continue to serve us well.

Insofar as the second point is concerned, I think we must really look at history. That with the return of Hong Kong to China and the return of Macau to China in 1999, 400 years of colonial rule in Asia comes to an end. The fact is that 50 years ago, only 50 years ago, most of the

nations in Asia are colonies. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh - well they weren't even Bangladesh then - Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia. And you can count all these nations, they were colonies. And China, or

most of the coastal regions have been subject to foreign influence and domination. And fifty years later these nations have achieved in terms of human dignity, prosperity and freedom, what a generation ago people would not dare even to dream of. These are outstanding achievements and I think there are experiences the rest of the world can share. I think the voices of Asian nations need to be heard, should be heard and there are experiences that can be learnt. Now whether by asking for discussion means ultimately a review, a change, that's another matter. But to ask for it I think is perfectly right and to say yes, it's nice to have a discussion, I think is proper and democratic. So to that extent I would

say yes.

Question (Chris Yeung, SCMP): (Follow up on UN charter).

Mr Tung: I think Chris that is really not the issue. The issue is that the voices of Asian nations needs to be heard. That is really the issue.

Question (Chris Yeung, SCMP): (What can other countries learn from Asian nations).

Mr Tung: The fact that we live in different culture, different religion, and we work together. We accommodate and work with each other and Asia, do you know Asian trade has increased so much within Asia, Asian prosperity has as a result also improved and we work and live together despite different culture, different religion and different ways of life. I think it is a wonderful thing and the rest of the world could learn from that.

Question (Journal of Commerce): In your meetings with US officials have you or will you be pushing further China's accession to the WTO?

Mr Tung: My responsibility is about Hong Kong and I would look after Hong Kong's interest. Pushing China's entry into WTO is not my responsibility. But if the question does come up, if I am asked for an opinion, I would say yes it is important for China to join WTO as early as possible. It's good for Hong Kong.

Question (Associated Press): (Question on China's economic development and rising living standards and how the Chinese Government can give justify one set of rules for Hong Kong and another for Cantonese people living across the border).

Mr Tung: Well I think in Hong Kong we have a very special system here, it is 'one country, two systems' and we will move forward in 'one country, two systems'. It is a concept that was devised to resolve an historic problem. On the one hand reunification with the country, on the other hand to preserve a separate system. So that is the purpose and that is how we are going forward and I think the people on mainland China, they are very happy that Hong Kong now is part of China and this feeling of pride is really quite enormous and it overrides everything else.

Question: (Question on what Mr Tung expects from his meeting with President Clinton).

Mr Tung: Well I'm looking forward to tomorrow's visit. I think that when we come out of the meeting I will tell you exactly what we have discussed. Are you going to be in Washington tomorrow? I will tell you about it when I come out.