(//www.tvsmo.com)
【大紀元12月24日訊】據美國新唐人電視臺 (NTDTV) 華盛頓消息﹐12月24日是香港23條立法咨詢期截止日期。23條立法引起海內外華人的普遍關注﹐新唐人電視臺記者23日為此採訪了美國國務院民主人權和勞工部的副助理國務卿斯考特-卡頻特先生。圖為斯考特在接受採訪中。以下為採訪問答實錄(譯文)。

記者﹕(美國)國務院在11月22日公佈了有關香港23條立法的聲明﹐而在12月10日﹐中國副總理錢其琛說﹕“這不關他們的事。”這裡的“他們”也包括美國政府。您對此有何評論﹖

卡頻特﹕我想美國政府和其他國際社會成員一道表達了對23條立法的關注。我們這樣做是有公認的利益原因的。你或許不知道吧﹐有超過五萬美國人居住在香港﹐而美國在香港的固定資產也大約有290億美元。我們確是對正在香港發生的事情關注。此外﹐我認為香港作為國際都市﹐長久以來其開放和人權保護的傳統被公認。因此我們繼續對香港所發生之事密切關注是十分重要的。

記者﹕美國政府主要關心哪些領域﹖

卡頻特﹕我認為我們最關心的是透明度的問題。我們理解香港政府有權利也有責任考慮這些（立法）問題﹐但是市民也有權利發表意見。比如說公佈法律草案以便公眾可以更近一步地了解﹐我認為這一點非常重要。我想我們所關心的領域與香港市民自己所提出的關注是一樣的﹐（比如）立法後是否很容易就觸犯叛國或煽動罪等問題。

記者﹕明天將是立法咨詢的截止日期。您是否認為美國政府可以有任何具體的措施或渠道表達這些關注﹖

卡頻特﹕我認為(美國)總統已經親自向江澤民主席非常清楚地說明該（立法）問題是美國和美國人民都關心的。我也希望（香港）民眾的所有看法會被充份考慮﹐這樣咨詢程序才會有效地反映香港民眾的聲音。

英文新聞稿﹕
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Dec. 23 is the last day before the deadline of the consultation period of the proposed legislation of Article 23 in Hong Kong. New Tang Dynasty TV reporter interviewed Deputy Assistant Secretary of State from State Department of United States, Mr. J. Scott Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter is from Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

Q: State Department has issued a statement regarding Hong Kong’s Article 23 legislation on Nov. 22. While on Dec 10, China’s vice premier Qian Qichen said that “it has nothing to do with them”, this “them” included the US government. How would you respond to that?

A: I think the United States government has joined others in the international community in expressing our concerns over Article 23. And that we have recognized interest in doing so. Hong Kong, as you may or may not know, has over 50,000 American residents living there, we have combined fix assets in Hong Kong of something like 29 billion dollars. So, we do have some concern about what takes place in Hong Kong. But In addition to that, I would say Hong Kong is an international city, which has long been has recognized for its tradition of openness and protection of human rights. That is very important that we continue to pay attention and watch closely what takes place there.

Q: What are some of the key areas of the concerns for US government?

A: Well, I think what we are most concerned about is transparency. We understand that the HK government has the right and the responsibility to consider these issues, but that the citizens themselves also have a right to comment on them. And so I think it is very important that the draft legislation, for instance, be made available to people to look more closely at it. I think that the areas of concern are the same areas of concern that the Hong Kong people themselves have addressed, whether it is the ease for which treason would be raised, or other issues, sedition issues.

Q: Tomorrow is the deadline for the consultation period of the proposed legislation. So do you think there is any concrete measure or venue for the US government to voice this concern?

A: I think that the President himself made it very clear to President Jiang Zemin that this was an issue of concern for the people of the United States of America.. And so I would hope that there would be due consideration given to all points of view of the Hong Kong people so that the consultative process works effectively to give the voice to the people of Hong Kong.

(//www.dajiyuan.com)