Settlement with Manila over hostages was best we could do: city official
City official says both sides had to give in order to end the row over hostage tragedy
The resolution of the Manila hostage tragedy was the "best we can get", a senior Hong Kong government official said yesterday, explaining why wording short of a full apology had been accepted.
It was unrealistic to expect a "one-side-takes-all" outcome, the official said, a day after the deal ended a 32-month stand-off, leading to the removal of visa sanctions and lifting of a black travel warning - the highest on a three-point scale - against the Philippines.
"The wording in the joint statement is a compromise and it's natural that not everybody is fully satisfied. But in any bilateral talks, you can't expect a one-side-takes-all result," the source said, also making it clear Beijing had given Hong Kong a free hand to negotiate the settlement.
Watch: Hong Kong says Philippine hostage row over
"Both the central and Hong Kong governments position the incident as a humanitarian issue, instead of a diplomatic row," the source said. "The central government had not sent representatives to take part in the talks since October."
At one point, negotiations became so tense that Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying had considered leaving a meeting with Philippine President Benigno Aquino in Bali on October 7 because of an embarrassing seating arrangement, but chose to stay because he had made seeking justice for victims' families his top priority, another official said.
