The four leading contenders for the post of chief executive responded cautiously to the sentence. Peter Woo Kwong-ching urged Hong Kong people not to interfere with the legal system of neighbouring countries. He said 'the current circumstance' made it clear how important it was to protect the legal system. 'We therefore have to administer Hong Kong according to the rule of law.' Tung Chee-hwa said: 'China has its Chinese laws; Hong Kong has its Hong Kong laws. The two sets of laws are different. We should understand this.' Simon Li Fook-sean said he did not want to comment because he had been retired from the courts for more than nine years and did not understand mainland laws. Yang Ti Liang said he could not comment because he did not have the full facts. It was not right for a candidate to comment on official actions taken in China. Asked whether he would approve a law which made it a crime to express a view, he said: 'The chief executive is not an autocrat. When he approves legislation, he has to respect the views of members of the provisional legislature.' He said the definition of the term 'subversion' should be determined by the first legislature, to be set up in 1998.
