Transcript of remarks by CE in New York City (English only)
*********************************************************** Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, at a Q&A session at the Luncheon held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York today (October 25, New York time): (English only)
Question: Mr Tsang, with all of the recent worldwide attention on the Avian virus, people are very interested in knowing what steps Hong Kong has taken to avoid a repetition of the SARS virus. And whether or not you feel those steps will be effective if a return of the flu virus occurs?
Chief Executive: Well, nobody can be so complacent to say that they're fully equipped to deal with a major outbreak in that field, although we are all expecting it. We are a bit unfortunate, or fortunate you may say, that we suffered a very serious outbreak of SARS epidemic in Hong Kong, which took away a number of lives including some very brave lives of our doctors and nurses. We have learned in the process - We have devised a contingency measure, we have restructured our public health services, and we have created a centre of health protection. And, at the same time, we have devised several levels of emergency response, mobilising the whole government in the process together with our private sector and our medical sector.
If it's unfortunate enough to have an outbreak in the world, the place where I want to be is in Hong Kong. We are not complacent and we are doing exactly what most other people are doing, including stocking up of Tamiflu. That is a very expensive process. But that's not the only thing. We are participating in most global initiatives in the discussion of this. Recently President Bush convened a meeting, and we sent our representatives there as well. Hong Kong, of course is the reference laboratory for testing viruses of a kind which we see for a particular Avian virus, an H5 series and we serve the whole Asian region.
We are reasonably well prepared but, as I said, we are not complacent. We are constantly revising our plan. We do occasional exercises on our plan. But my people, our journalists, always believe that we haven't done enough. And I think they might be right. But, as I said, it might not be enough but perhaps among the best in the world.
Question: What chance do you think your governance reform package has of passage in December?
Chief Executive: You're talking about our package of constitutional development. We have been consulting the public on this for nearly two years now and the package we have proposed represent a major advancement in our democratisation. It also has the support of a majority of people in Hong Kong. So I am sure the legislators will focus on it and give its best vote at the end of the day. But this is an arrangement which requires tri-partite consensus. We need the support of two-third majority in our legislature. We also need the personal agreement of the chief executive - myself. And we also need the agreement of the National People's Congress in Beijing. It is not an easy enterprise, but we have got a good package. A package supported by the people. I'm sure our legislators will act responsibly at the end of the day.
Question: Here's a follow up question. What is your response to your opposition, which is calling for set targets on the path to democracy?
Chief Executive: Well, I personally believe that it is a building block process. We have to decide what these blocks are. Some of the blocks are still missing. For instance, the structure which our legislature should take, when we reach universal suffrage, has not been devised yet. There are the questions of the political institutions underpinning a mature system, exercising universal suffrage. And there's a question of grooming politicians in the process.
There will be a lot of debate on this. But I would suggest that we should work on this, and reach the final destination of universal suffrage as quickly as possible. But we must not do it in a way in which would cause social rupture, particularly economic disasters.
I'm sure we have to work something out on our own. We cannot simply clone a foreign system onto Hong Kong. We are not starting on a clean slate. We are starting with certain political institutions. We must build on those institutions. And I believe this is a job and a work which must be done by Hong Kong people. And I must say we will try to do it as quickly as possible but it must be at a pace not to cause unnecessary hardship for our own people too.
Question: The next question takes us into a slightly different area than politics. But equally important, and that is pollution. And the question is that, in the context of the unparalleled growth in the Pearl River Delta, what is Hong Kong doing to protect itself against pollution?
Chief Executive: Well, first of all, there is no complacency in dealing with pollution in the modern world today. In Hong Kong we have to clean up our own act. That means we have, for instance, prohibited the use of diesel in our taxi fleet and we are encouraging them to change it into LPG. We are also cleaning up our power stations as well. Some of them are using solid fuel. We are encouraging them to use liquid fuel and gas for power generation.
But we realise that, when talking about pollution, they ignore boundaries and borders. So we must work together with our neighbours. In this regard we must work with the Pearl River Delta, particularly in Guangdong Province. And we already have an agreement. An agreement, that by the year 2010, we are going to reduce all emissions by half. That's the first step. And that has been signed.
In order to monitor this, we are now establishing monitoring centres in 16 places, scattered in different parts of the Pearl River Delta. Three of those centres are in Hong Kong, thirteen of them in Pearl River Delta. So that we know exactly the deteriorations, and the main generators and creators of these pollutants in the Pearl River Delta.
At the same time, our businesses in Hong Kong, who are setting up factories in the mainland, probably are the main polluters themselves. We are now signing up a charter to ask them to clean up their own act in the factories in the mainland. There is a movement that is going. It is not an easy task. But I am sure two or three years down the road, the quality of air in Hong Kong will definitely be better than it is now. Although it is not bad by Asian standards and compares quite favourably with many, it is not quite the same quality as in Scandinavia and elsewhere. But we are trying hard.
We believe that, unless we have clean air, we cannot pretend to be an Asia world city. We cannot pretend to be a world city. As a world city, we are international, where expatriates can stay and settle and raise their families. We must be able to produce world-class services, including first-class air, world-class air.
Question: The first question is when do you think a decision on the West Kowloon Cultural Development project will be taken? And the second question is do you see a role for American businesses to participate in that development project?
Chief Executive: In my speech today, I said we've got practically everything in New York except the Broadway. We need a cultural centre. We need it because of our desire, our ambition to be a world city. But it must be a first rate one.
And so we went through a whole series of competition on design concept and then invitational proposals to develop it. We have reached a stage that everyone's now debating on it. I look at it positively. Because I think we have got the right sort of concept. We have got lots of financers wishing to put money on it. The question is whether our politicians will give it a go.
I personally believe that, with a bit of good will, we'll conclude these argumentations probably next year. And then, from there onwards, we then talk about construction. But as far as construction goes, we, as you know, operate on a level playing field. We allow anybody to come and participate. Provided they promise and they pledge first rate service at that reasonable price. So American developers, designers will be able to participate in this process. But in that we want to make sure that we are responding to the public wish that it will not be a single developer. So there would be a number of developers in this project.
Question: The next question bears upon terrorism. Hong Kong, like New York, and many other major cities in the world, is a cosmopolitan centre and therefore, subject to acts of terrorism. And the question is what steps has Hong Kong taken to protect itself against such an event?
Chief Executive: We do this thing quietly but we do it efficiently. We belong to an international network in sharing intelligence in this regard. And, at the same time, we take initiatives whenever something erupts. Hong Kong has never been, luckily, a favourite terrorist destination. But we are not complacent. We cooperate, as I said, with American government, with other economies, with other countries in this regard. And whenever something happens we protect our expatriate communities as well, as best we can.
I think it is common knowledge Hong Kong is relatively safe in this regard. And we are rather proud of that. Our police force is participating in the international intelligence network. And they are getting first rate response from other people in this regard. I'm sure, in relative terms, Hong Kong is a lot safer than many other cities. I certainly feel very safe there. I'm sure your businessmen feel the same as well. I've just heard, for instance, colleagues here saying they want to go back to Hong Kong as quickly as possible.
Question: Here's a question bearing upon trade and negotiations between the United States and mainland China. And the question is what role has Hong Kong played in those trade negotiations? And would you share with us your views with regard to the quotas imposed, the recent quotas imposed by the United States on certain Chinese goods this past summer?
Chief Executive: Well, we are free traders. We, ourselves, never believe in quotas. We believe that things should be fairly traded. I also realised that Americans formed an opinion in the upsurge and imports of Chinese products have caused in textile and apparel field, a certain dislocations or hardship in the textile and apparel industry in America.
Personally, I think that needs to be proven. But, in any case, quota is being negotiated. We don't play a part in this. We are simply customs territory in WTO. So negotiation between the mainland of China and the United States are really bi-lateral affairs, in which we do not interfere. We cannot intervene.
But if you impose quota on China, we will benefit in a way although we don't necessarily need it very much. But what happen is, if quota is imposed, we are close to China. We are able to set up certain factories there and do some exports ourselves in product lines, it would not have been economic for us to do so in the past.
But the most important thing is when we look at bi-lateral relationship, I believe it might not be very helpful to concentrate on one area, one sector of relationship, like trading goods. There's a certain imbalance there.
We have to look at that relationship in its totality. For instance, in a case of relationship between mainland China and the United States, there is a trade surplus to China's advantage. But you must remember the money which mainland China makes is going to plow back to America in terms of buying your treasury bills.
So whatever money it gets, it gives it back to America. So if you look at the whole thing in totality, one wonders what's the complaint. But, anyway, I'm only a trader. I'm only a chief executive. I can't deal with mighty things like that.
*********************************************************** Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, at a Q&A session at the Luncheon held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York today (October 25, New York time): (English only)
Question: Mr Tsang, with all of the recent worldwide attention on the Avian virus, people are very interested in knowing what steps Hong Kong has taken to avoid a repetition of the SARS virus. And whether or not you feel those steps will be effective if a return of the flu virus occurs?
Chief Executive: Well, nobody can be so complacent to say that they're fully equipped to deal with a major outbreak in that field, although we are all expecting it. We are a bit unfortunate, or fortunate you may say, that we suffered a very serious outbreak of SARS epidemic in Hong Kong, which took away a number of lives including some very brave lives of our doctors and nurses. We have learned in the process - We have devised a contingency measure, we have restructured our public health services, and we have created a centre of health protection. And, at the same time, we have devised several levels of emergency response, mobilising the whole government in the process together with our private sector and our medical sector.
If it's unfortunate enough to have an outbreak in the world, the place where I want to be is in Hong Kong. We are not complacent and we are doing exactly what most other people are doing, including stocking up of Tamiflu. That is a very expensive process. But that's not the only thing. We are participating in most global initiatives in the discussion of this. Recently President Bush convened a meeting, and we sent our representatives there as well. Hong Kong, of course is the reference laboratory for testing viruses of a kind which we see for a particular Avian virus, an H5 series and we serve the whole Asian region.
We are reasonably well prepared but, as I said, we are not complacent. We are constantly revising our plan. We do occasional exercises on our plan. But my people, our journalists, always believe that we haven't done enough. And I think they might be right. But, as I said, it might not be enough but perhaps among the best in the world.
Question: What chance do you think your governance reform package has of passage in December?
Chief Executive: You're talking about our package of constitutional development. We have been consulting the public on this for nearly two years now and the package we have proposed represent a major advancement in our democratisation. It also has the support of a majority of people in Hong Kong. So I am sure the legislators will focus on it and give its best vote at the end of the day. But this is an arrangement which requires tri-partite consensus. We need the support of two-third majority in our legislature. We also need the personal agreement of the chief executive - myself. And we also need the agreement of the National People's Congress in Beijing. It is not an easy enterprise, but we have got a good package. A package supported by the people. I'm sure our legislators will act responsibly at the end of the day.
Question: Here's a follow up question. What is your response to your opposition, which is calling for set targets on the path to democracy?
Chief Executive: Well, I personally believe that it is a building block process. We have to decide what these blocks are. Some of the blocks are still missing. For instance, the structure which our legislature should take, when we reach universal suffrage, has not been devised yet. There are the questions of the political institutions underpinning a mature system, exercising universal suffrage. And there's a question of grooming politicians in the process.
There will be a lot of debate on this. But I would suggest that we should work on this, and reach the final destination of universal suffrage as quickly as possible. But we must not do it in a way in which would cause social rupture, particularly economic disasters.
I'm sure we have to work something out on our own. We cannot simply clone a foreign system onto Hong Kong. We are not starting on a clean slate. We are starting with certain political institutions. We must build on those institutions. And I believe this is a job and a work which must be done by Hong Kong people. And I must say we will try to do it as quickly as possible but it must be at a pace not to cause unnecessary hardship for our own people too.
Question: The next question takes us into a slightly different area than politics. But equally important, and that is pollution. And the question is that, in the context of the unparalleled growth in the Pearl River Delta, what is Hong Kong doing to protect itself against pollution?
Chief Executive: Well, first of all, there is no complacency in dealing with pollution in the modern world today. In Hong Kong we have to clean up our own act. That means we have, for instance, prohibited the use of diesel in our taxi fleet and we are encouraging them to change it into LPG. We are also cleaning up our power stations as well. Some of them are using solid fuel. We are encouraging them to use liquid fuel and gas for power generation.
But we realise that, when talking about pollution, they ignore boundaries and borders. So we must work together with our neighbours. In this regard we must work with the Pearl River Delta, particularly in Guangdong Province. And we already have an agreement. An agreement, that by the year 2010, we are going to reduce all emissions by half. That's the first step. And that has been signed.
In order to monitor this, we are now establishing monitoring centres in 16 places, scattered in different parts of the Pearl River Delta. Three of those centres are in Hong Kong, thirteen of them in Pearl River Delta. So that we know exactly the deteriorations, and the main generators and creators of these pollutants in the Pearl River Delta.
At the same time, our businesses in Hong Kong, who are setting up factories in the mainland, probably are the main polluters themselves. We are now signing up a charter to ask them to clean up their own act in the factories in the mainland. There is a movement that is going. It is not an easy task. But I am sure two or three years down the road, the quality of air in Hong Kong will definitely be better than it is now. Although it is not bad by Asian standards and compares quite favourably with many, it is not quite the same quality as in Scandinavia and elsewhere. But we are trying hard.
We believe that, unless we have clean air, we cannot pretend to be an Asia world city. We cannot pretend to be a world city. As a world city, we are international, where expatriates can stay and settle and raise their families. We must be able to produce world-class services, including first-class air, world-class air.
Question: The first question is when do you think a decision on the West Kowloon Cultural Development project will be taken? And the second question is do you see a role for American businesses to participate in that development project?
Chief Executive: In my speech today, I said we've got practically everything in New York except the Broadway. We need a cultural centre. We need it because of our desire, our ambition to be a world city. But it must be a first rate one.
And so we went through a whole series of competition on design concept and then invitational proposals to develop it. We have reached a stage that everyone's now debating on it. I look at it positively. Because I think we have got the right sort of concept. We have got lots of financers wishing to put money on it. The question is whether our politicians will give it a go.
I personally believe that, with a bit of good will, we'll conclude these argumentations probably next year. And then, from there onwards, we then talk about construction. But as far as construction goes, we, as you know, operate on a level playing field. We allow anybody to come and participate. Provided they promise and they pledge first rate service at that reasonable price. So American developers, designers will be able to participate in this process. But in that we want to make sure that we are responding to the public wish that it will not be a single developer. So there would be a number of developers in this project.
Question: The next question bears upon terrorism. Hong Kong, like New York, and many other major cities in the world, is a cosmopolitan centre and therefore, subject to acts of terrorism. And the question is what steps has Hong Kong taken to protect itself against such an event?
Chief Executive: We do this thing quietly but we do it efficiently. We belong to an international network in sharing intelligence in this regard. And, at the same time, we take initiatives whenever something erupts. Hong Kong has never been, luckily, a favourite terrorist destination. But we are not complacent. We cooperate, as I said, with American government, with other economies, with other countries in this regard. And whenever something happens we protect our expatriate communities as well, as best we can.
I think it is common knowledge Hong Kong is relatively safe in this regard. And we are rather proud of that. Our police force is participating in the international intelligence network. And they are getting first rate response from other people in this regard. I'm sure, in relative terms, Hong Kong is a lot safer than many other cities. I certainly feel very safe there. I'm sure your businessmen feel the same as well. I've just heard, for instance, colleagues here saying they want to go back to Hong Kong as quickly as possible.
Question: Here's a question bearing upon trade and negotiations between the United States and mainland China. And the question is what role has Hong Kong played in those trade negotiations? And would you share with us your views with regard to the quotas imposed, the recent quotas imposed by the United States on certain Chinese goods this past summer?
Chief Executive: Well, we are free traders. We, ourselves, never believe in quotas. We believe that things should be fairly traded. I also realised that Americans formed an opinion in the upsurge and imports of Chinese products have caused in textile and apparel field, a certain dislocations or hardship in the textile and apparel industry in America.
Personally, I think that needs to be proven. But, in any case, quota is being negotiated. We don't play a part in this. We are simply customs territory in WTO. So negotiation between the mainland of China and the United States are really bi-lateral affairs, in which we do not interfere. We cannot intervene.
But if you impose quota on China, we will benefit in a way although we don't necessarily need it very much. But what happen is, if quota is imposed, we are close to China. We are able to set up certain factories there and do some exports ourselves in product lines, it would not have been economic for us to do so in the past.
But the most important thing is when we look at bi-lateral relationship, I believe it might not be very helpful to concentrate on one area, one sector of relationship, like trading goods. There's a certain imbalance there.
We have to look at that relationship in its totality. For instance, in a case of relationship between mainland China and the United States, there is a trade surplus to China's advantage. But you must remember the money which mainland China makes is going to plow back to America in terms of buying your treasury bills.
So whatever money it gets, it gives it back to America. So if you look at the whole thing in totality, one wonders what's the complaint. But, anyway, I'm only a trader. I'm only a chief executive. I can't deal with mighty things like that.
Ends/Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Issued at HKT 08:37
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