Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive Tung Chee
Hwa said Thursday that his government has a duty to implement
Article 23 of the Basic Law and the schedule of the entire
legislative process will depend on how the consultation goes.
He
made the remarks at a press conference at the Conference Hall of
Central Government Offices.
He
said his government is seriously reviewing and looking at the Hong
Kong residents aspirations and concerns with a view to learning
from the experience.
He
said: "We are also actively preparing in time to respond to their
aspirations and their concerns. One thing I am going to do is to
meet the various political parties, major sectors of the community,
the media and opinion leaders regularly. I shall keep in touch with
citizens through various means to listen to their voices
directly."
Regarding Article 23 of the Basic Law, he said although the
consultative and legislative process has been under way for nearly
a year, many of the citizens still do not understand the
contents.
He
said, the government has thus decided it is necessary to put
forward the bill to the whole community for consultation again.
Based on the foundation of the legislative work done already, this
consultation exercise will be even more extensive than the previous
one. The government will compile a full text of the Bill
incorporating all the amendments proposed by the government and
discuss it with Legislative Council members at the Bills Committee.
Meanwhile, dialogue with the public and concerned organizations
will be reopened to listen to their views.
He
emphasized that the purpose of this round of consultation is to win
the maximum understanding and support of the community as a whole
for this legislation.
He
said his government is taking advantage of the new opportunities
brought about by mainland-Hong Kong closer economic partners
arrangements (CEPA) and the enhanced co-operation with Guangdong
Province to formulate short and medium-term policy initiatives so
as to step up the region's economic restructuring.
He
stressed that during his duty visit to Beijing on Saturday he will
make a further request to the central government to speed up the
schedule for the implementation of various arrangements under
CEPA.
He
promised that he will continue to respond to residents' concerns in
the days and weeks to come. Through concrete measures, "we will
formulate policies from the standpoint of the people."
He
said: "Our response to the aspirations of the public will honor our
promise to reflect properly the concerns and expectations of our
people. It will also be conducive to safeguarding a stable and
long-lasting relationship between Hong Kong and the Chinese
mainland within the framework of 'One Country, Two Systems'."
(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2003)