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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the media session by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, on July 11 (US time) after meeting with President of the United States, Mr George W Bush:

Mr Tung: I had a very good visit with the President. I had the opportunity to tell the President that four years since the return of Hong Kong, "one country, two systems" is an everyday reality.

We have also been able to overcome the financial turmoil of Asia; Hong Kong is moving forward very, very well.

I expressed my appreciation for the administration's initiative on NTR. It is important for China, the United States of America, but I think it is very, very important to Hong Kong as well.

We exchanged views about China and the President is looking forward to visiting China in autumn. And I know he attaches a great deal of importance to the Sino-US relationship.

As you know, I have always said that the Sino-US relationship is very important to Hong Kong also, so I was very pleased to hear that from him. So, all in all, it was a very good visit. Thank you very much.

Reporter: During you conversation with the President, did Beijing's bid for the Olympics ever come up? Also, did you ever talk about Taiwan during your conversation with the President?

Mr Tung: We talked about the full range of issues, and they were all very positive discussions.

Reporter: Did you invite him to visit Hong Kong?

Mr Tung: Obviously, we would be very delighted if he could come and visit Hong Kong, but we also know that he has a very tight timetable. But, we would be delighted if he comes to visit.

Reporter: Is it your feeling that damage done to US-Chinese relations during the EP-3 episode has been completely repaired or do you believe there are still some irritations between the two countries caused by that episode?

Mr Tung: I think obviously there is a need for both the United States of America and China to work hard at this relationship, and I am pleased to see that at this moment, the relationship is now moving forward in a very positive way.

Reporter: Ahead of the meeting, the White House put out a press release saying that Hong Kong's autonomy was going to be one of the issues. How was that raised and in what context did the President raise that?

Mr Tung: We discussed Hong Kong, and I explained how well Hong Kong is doing and how much we are moving forward, including how strong the rule of law and how well the freedoms - whether it's the freedom of the press or religion - are alive and kicking and doing well.

Reporter: What would you say you accomplished in this visit?

Mr Tung: I think the objective to be here in Washington, is to tell our friends that four years since how well we are doing with "one country, two systems", how Hong Kong has recovered from the financial crisis of Asia; and to point out that China's accession to the WTO is not only good for China, good for the United States of America, very good for Hong Kong also, and that there will be good opportunities for American businesses.

And the other point is about the Sino-US relationship; it is such an important relationship to Hong Kong, and I was able to put my views across and I am glad to hear and to see that things are moving in the right direction.

(Please also refer to the Chinese transcript)

End/Thursday, July 12, 2001

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