The Government has sought to play down the right-of-abode row in an official report by quoting Chief Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang's comments on the case in an interview with the South China Morning Post. The report, Hong Kong SAR: The First Five Years 1997-2002, cited Mr Justice Li's remarks in an interview with the Post published on June 14 that he did not believe the Government's referral of the Court of Final Appeal's ruling to Beijing had humiliated or diminished the court's authority. But the report failed to note that he also said in the interview that he hoped there would be no more reinterpretations by Beijing after the ruling. 'I note as a matter of fact that the Government has stated quite unequivocally that while it cannot rule out the question of interpretation, it would only consider it in very extreme and exceptional circumstances,' Mr Li said in the interview. 'I also note that since that time, although cases have gone against the Government, this has not been considered. It may be this will never recur. It is my hope it will not.' The 44-page report documents major events in the SAR's first five years. There are separate chapters on 'one country, two systems,' the economy, rule of law and the environment. In the chapter entitled 'For the record,' Fortune Magazine was quoted for saying 'Hong Kong is still a better, easier, saner, more honest place to do business than almost anywhere else in Asia' in a cover story published on May 13. But the report failed to note that the story questioned if the SAR could maintain its role as a gateway to the mainland as more foreign businesses circumvent Hong Kong. In his foreword, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa noted that 'the greatest challenges we have faced have been in the economic realm, rather than the political arena.' He admitted that asset prices had tumbled to half of what they were at the peak of the market at the end of 1997, the stock market had seen new highs and lows, and consumer prices had declined for more than three years. BOOK01GET
