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of the wishes of the Islanders.
It is encouraging that
.... countries, including a majority of members of the
Commonwealth [and all our Community partners], declined
to vote with Argentina for this Resolution. The
Resolution was passed, but it is of course not binding
on member States. Nor will it in any way affect our
determination to stand by our commitments to the
Islanders.
16. My Lords, the Gracious Speech mentioned two other
Dependent Territories for which we have direct
responsibility.
Over Hong Kong there has been great
progress. The draft agreement initialled in Peking on
26 September is a credit to my Rt Hon Friend the
Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, and reflects the
hard work of the British and Chinese negotiating teams.
After two years of arduous negotiations we have
succeeded in reaching agreement on a detailed package
which should provide the basis for renewed confidence
about the future of Hong Kong. That confidence should
in turn continue to underpin the prosperity of the
territory.
Noble Lords will have an early opportunity
to debate this issue in full when the people of Hong
Kong have had an opportunity to express their views on
the draft agreement.
17. As for Gibraltar, we shall continue to work for
early implementation of the Lisbon statement.
My Rt
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