CONFIDENTIAL
DRAFT SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER AT THE BANQUET IN PEKING
ON 19 DECEMBER
1.
Your Excellency, Premier Zhao Ziyang, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is a privilege and great pleasure
for me
to be visiting China for the third time in seven
years. Each visit has been all too short. But each visit here also made a deep impression on me. This visit has a special importance because it marks an historic achievement.
2.
That achievement was our signature this morning of the Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. In my speech at the
signature ceremony I described the significance which we
attach to the Joint Declaration; our determination to make a
success of it; and the firm basis which it lays down for the
growth and prosperity of Hong Kong's unique society into the middle of the 21st century. I expressed my conviction that
the people of Hong Kong would rise to the challenge that lies
ahead of them.
3.
The world can draw a lesson from the successful outcome of our joint enterprise:
determined negotiation can succeed where confrontation
would surely lead to disaster;
goodwill and friendship can overcome misunderstanding;
CONFIDENTIAL