22
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 14 March 1984
Unofficial Member's Motion
The Future of Hong Kong
MR. R. H. LOBO moved the following motion:-This Council deems it essential that any proposals for the future of Hong Kong should be debated in this Council before any final agreement is reached.
MR. LOBO: Sir, I rise to move the motion standing in my name. It reads:-
"This Council deems it essential that any proposals for the future of Hong Kong should be debated in this Council before any final agreement is reached.'
Sir, this is a very simple motion. It means what it says—no more—and one might think that it could not easily be misunderstood or misrepresented. It is, as a newspaper has said, a debate about having a debate.
It is 18 months since the Prime Minister visited China and it might be timely at the commencement of this debate to reflect on the joint communique issued immediately afterwards-it said:-
'Today, the two leaders of the two Countries held far-reaching talks in a friendly atmosphere on the future of Hong Kong. Both leaders made clear their respective positions on the subject.
They agreed to enter into talks through diplomatic channels following the visit, with the common aim of maintaining the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.’
There have been nine rounds of formal talks during the intervening period, and, it would be foolish to pretend it has not been a very worrying period for our community.
While the talks themselves have been conducted in the strictest confidence; rumours and so-called leaks have pre-occupied the media and again it would be foolish to pretend that our confidence has not been sorely tested.
The uneasiness these statements have caused has not arisen from promises of re-unification with the motherland. The uneasiness springs from a very real fear that there may be changes to a different style of government.
It is widely believed that useful and constructive talks must surely soon bear fruit and the purpose of this motion is to give some focal expression to the undertaking given by Her Majesty's Government that the objective was to reach an agreement on the future of Hong Kong which would be acceptable to the governments of China and Britain as well as to the people of Hong Kong.
In the U.K. this will mean a vote in Parliament; in Hong Kong this Council is one of the principal forums for public debate and must surely play an important