Margaret Thatcher's Idea
Three million copies of the British-Chinese agreement have been printed (Hong Kong has a population of about five and a half million). People queued up for copies as they were being distributed. However, when it actually came to
taking part in the hearing and stating their views to the "Assessment Office"
specially set up for this purpose, the reaction from the majority of the
population was passive. So far, the "Assessment Office" has received a total of 600 comments - that is only one for every 5000 inhabitants. This passivity
probably says more than the debate in the Legislative Council.
The hearing procedure was Margaret Thatcher's idea. During the two years of British-Chinese negotiations the British Prime Minister repeatedly declared
that the agreement should be acceptable not only to Peking and London, but to
Hong Kong too. Admittedly, the Crown colony itself was not represented at the
negotiations. There was no referendum either. The idea of a hearing was then
conceived as a kind of compensation for this.
"I do not believe that a Communist state is equal to the task of assuming
responsibility for free enterprise and a free market economy." These are the
words of James McGregor, the director of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce. He
made this comment exactly a year ago when the Hong Kong currency was depreciating rapidly, at a time when flight of capital, losses on the stock
exchange and signs of a strong migration of businesses were evident. At that
time McGregor was not alone in making such pessimistic predictions. The
spokesman for a left-wing liberal civil rights association spoke in the same
vein. "It is absolutely essential for Hong Kong's political stability and economic prosperity that the British should continue to play an active role here after the re-establishment of Chinese sovereignty."
Such avowals can no longer be heard; seldom have so many people made such a political U-turn in so short a time. Those who only a few months ago opposed a British withdrawal are now silent or even express their approval of the new
plans for Hong Kong. One member of the Legislative Council, who now praises the British-Chinese agreement as "farsighted", had declared in an earlier debate that it was indispensable for the maintenance of confidence in Hong Kong for Britain to continue to help govern and administer it for at least
another 30 years after 1997.