Question:
[LORD GORONwy-Roberts.]
[ LORDS ]
and I want to make a point about investment in Hong Kong in a moment-should be developed. Today 45 per cent. of the activity of Hong Kong is in manu- facturing and in the manufacture of goods of a very high quality and not so cheap either. The old legend,
Made in Hong Kong", representing, therefore, shoddy and cheap, has disappeared. This is now a major manufacturing country producing goods which compete with the best in the rest of the world.
All this progress depends upon investment and investment depends upon stability. Stability and confidence in the future are the essential needs of Hong Kong-not just for its well-being but for its survival. Here my noble friend is absolutely right. We should, with due expedition, proceed to talk to our friends in Peking of the future, beyond 1997, when the present constitutional arrangement--if they will permit me to call it so--ends. It is essential that a feeling of stability and of confidence for the future should be sustained by friendly talks conducted, without a sense of strain and, certainly, without a sense of hostility, over the next few years. I do not share my noble friend's feeling that it is quite as chronologically urgent as he puts it; but that is a matter of opinion. I think there is time so that we do not have to rush things. This is not the Chinese way. They are, above all, a patient people. They wait and think so that their actions at the end of their thinking are all the more effective. We should emulate them in this-we are quite capable of doing it--and talk to them gently and gradually without rushing things as to the future; so that investment can see the possibility of increase without the possibility of failure after commitment.
Stability, in part, depends upon the wisdom and ability of the Hong Kong Government and, indeed, of the leadership in Hong Kong generally, which is both Chinese and British. I am thinking of the trade union movement, the great mass of which is led by Chinese and without the goodwill of whom you can do nothing. In part, it depends upon the wisdom and ability of its own leadership and in part on the con- tinuation of the constructive understanding that marks the attitude of the People's Republic of China. It is very difficult to define this understanding but it is a practical fact and it is sustained-if I may repeat this; and I hope my noble friend will acquit me of pre- sumption when I say this--by the highly intelligent visits which are paid by eminent parliamentarians and businessmen from this country to Peking and the talks that then take place between the two sides. My noble friend Lord Rhodes has so far led three such delegations
Lord Rhodes: My Lords, it is two, going on for a third.
Lord Goronwy-Roberts: My Lords, I know the results of those and so, I believe, does the present Foreign Secretary. We owe a great deal of gratitude to my noble friend Lord Rhodes for the practical efforts he has made to sustain this precious under- standing between us and the vast and potentially powerful People's Republic of China.
Both as a former Minister and now speaking from this Bench, I would not wish to define the under-
Hong Kong
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standing. It is, as I have said, a practical fact which in word and deed we all have a duty to sustain. If we do so, the future of Hong Kong and the well being of its people will be assured whatever form of govern- ment may evolve. But, even more important than that, the excellent relations which are now growing between this country and China and which have implications of growing hope and strength for Western democracy will also be strengthened. I end as I begin. In con- sidering Hong Kong, we must consider the Chinese dimension at all levels. I hope that this debate, for which we are grateful to my noble friend for in- augurating, will help to remind us of that extremely important fact.
7.37 p.m.
Lord Campbell of Croy: My Lords, we are grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, for giving us this opportunity to discuss Hong Kong and, of course, as the noble Lord, Lord Goronwy-Roberts, has said, our relations with China, which inevitably arise on that subject. The noble Lord, Lord Brockway, gave us his sincere impressions from correspondence over years with residents in Hong Kong. He spoke of a gulf between the Hong Kong administration and the people. I wish that he had visited Hong Kong-- he told us that he never has because I think he would have formed a somewhat different view and that he would accept the astonishing achievements of the Hong Kong community, administration and people, against a background of pressing problems caused by hosts of refugees and the density of the population.
How and why Hong Kong exists and flourishes is often a puzzle to observers. It is a world phenomenon. It is the product of a century and a half of trading, of British administration and pressures from and within China. People who have never been to Hong Kong often ask: how can over five million people live in such a small area and flourish? And that area is largely swamp and steep hillside. The fact that they do flourish is a triumph of determination, enterprise and hard work. Another question which is asked is this. At a time when most colonies in the world have disappeared, how is it that Hong Kong still has colonial status although it is a flourishing, successful, up-to-date community? My answer to that would be that there is quiet agreement among those most concerned to preserve stability. The Chinese Government in Peking would view with some concern a third Chinese Govern- ment in the Far East-for that is what Hong Kong would produce if it became self-governing. And, of course, the second Chinese Government is in Taiwan. There is also the lease of the New Territories to be considered; so that we have the paradox of a colonial system when the United Kingdom is handing over independence to colonies and keen to hand over to other dependencies when they are ripe for it. It is a paradox because Communist governments do not normally favour the continuation of colonial régimes.
However, clearly the Peking Government does acquiesce in the situation. The present constitutional arrangements seem the best to meet the interests of the Government of China, the United Kingdom Govern- ment and the population of Hong Kong. Indeed Peking would be disquieted-even alarmed-if the British Government were to initiate steps towards a