*************************************************
The Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, is on a visit to Taiwan in his capacity as the Honorary Chairperson of the Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Co-operation and Promotion Council (ECCPC) at the invitation of the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council (THEC). Following is the transcript of Mr Tsang's remarks at a media session in Taiwan on August 30:
Reporter: On the visa-free travel issue, is it merely a matter between Hong Kong and Taiwan or does it involve the Central Government in Beijing as well?
Financial Secretary: Well, as I said before, these matters are of interest to us and we will be pursuing it with vigor but we need to sit down and examine the issue before we can further explore the possibilities.
Reporter: Is Beijing involved?
Financial Secretary: It's a matter between us.
Reporter: (Inaudible)
Financial Secretary: I have said a number of times that this is a really good beginning. We have begun, we have actually, our committee was only started in April, and the Taiwan's counterparts started in May, so it has been a few months, and we have been able to have a joint meeting of the two, which I think it's a very good accomplishment. And based on the meeting today, we have identified a number of relevant issues that we will pursue, so we will go forward, do the proper research, do the proper exploration, and hopefully we will find some solutions that will be satisfactory to both sides. Thank you very much.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, August 30, 2010
Issued at HKT 23:00
NNNN
Windows Media format
Real Media format