CONFIDENTIAL
- 2
機密
New Territories Lease
5.
Mr. Stephen Lau wished Mr. Clift to let Members know what plans HMG had to deal with the problems which would arise in 1997 with the expiry of the NT lease. Mr. Clift said that he was aware of the concern in Hong Kong on this problem. Chinese leaders had given assurances in general terms which had been repeated at the time of Lord Carrington's visit to Peking. China's interest in Hong Kong's stability was clear.
6.
Mr. Clift asked for Members' views on the principal points of concern. Dr. Kim Cham said that in addition to the question of investment which was to some extent tied up with mortgages, loans, etc., and thus the length of time was of considerable importance. There was another major problem with the question of trained manpower. Young managers and professionals were generally worried about their long-term prospects in Hong Kong and the prospects for their children and there was, to some extent, a brain drain in that people were largely looking to a future abroad rather than in Hong Kong. This would ultimately result in the managerial talent being diluted and Hong Kong becoming less successful. Mrs. Selina Chow agreed that this was so, but there were other sociological factors also involved. Hong Kong had largely depended upon a well motivated workforce and if Hong Kong was to continue to prosper it was essential that this should continue to be the case. However, she had noticed a tendency for people, due to the short-term expectations of Hong Kong, to live day to day to change jobs at the drop of a hat and certainly the sense of purpose appeared to be eroding.
7.
This attitude had been reinforced by the apparent widening of the gap between Hong Kong and the United Kingdom as underlined by the British Nationality Act and the students' fees issue, which was, also to some extent, highlighted by the decline in the use of English in Hong Kong. Mr. Lawrence Fung said that Dr. Huang in fact was on the evening of the day of the meeting appearing on the television to deal with some of these questions and thought perhaps Mr. Clift could get a translation of what transpired as grass-root opinion would also be canvassed in the programme. He himself, however, thought that there was little that the British Government or the Chinese Government could do at this time to resolve the 1997 situation which was sixteen years away.
3./
GF 323
CONFIDENTIAL
機密