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Translation
Süddeutsche Zeitung, 6.11.84
U-Turn in the Fragrant Harbour
The population of Hong Kong is offering virtually no resistance to the
British-Chinese agreement on the future of the Crown colony.
By our correspondent Karl Kränzle
Hong Kong, November
Debate in Hong Kong's Legislative Council: almost all the speakers comment
positively on the agreement initialled in Peking a few weeks earlier
concerning the future of the British Crown colony. Sometimes the Council
members sound as if they are trying to encourage each other. The agreement regulating the re-integration of Hong Kong into the People's Republic of China after 1997 is praised as daring, pragmatic, imaginative and farsighted. The members say they can recommend the agreement negotiated between London and
Peking to the population of Hong Kong with a clear conscience.
Only very rarely does anyone still express misgivings. One member says that
the majority of the inhabitants of Hong Kong would have spoken out in favour
of maintaining the status quo if they had been asked. Another adds: "I am not convinced that the British have really done everything in their power to negotiate a better settlement."
The debate is part of a hearing procedure which began at the end of September after the agreement had been initialled. The word hearing really ought to be set in inverted commas because this procedure will not alter the facts at all; many thus regard it as a superfluous exercise, a political farce. The population of Hong Kong was invited to express its views on the agreement. Ultimately, the results are intended as a contribution towards the
opinion-forming process in the British Parliament and in China's National
People's Congress, both of which have yet to ratify the Hong Kong agreement. However, it was made clear to the population of Hong Kong from the very outset that their only choice was to accept or reject the British-Chinese agreement. Amendments were no longer possible.