7.5
69
7.4.7 Thus follow-up contact through regular liaison meetings between Hong Kong and Guangdong-Shenzhen officials at
the Working level would still need to be pursued.
Strategic and General Points
7.5.1 At the present time, when Hong Kong is commissioning important strategic studies relating to its airport, port anc transport infrastructure, all of which will
result in very heavy investment in the next decade and
beyond, it is clearly important to obtain the best
information available from the Chinese authorities and
to keep it up to date. As indicated in the foregoing
reports on the different sectors, none of the
information gathered suggests the need for change in the direction of planning other than perlaps an acceleration
in the Chira-related transport links. It did however
confirm the urgent need for the information which will
derive from the Port and Airport Development Study; in
particular it confirmed the view Government cannot delay beyond the end of 1988 the basic decision as to whether
it should procecu incrementally on the development of
the container port after Terminal 7 (i.e. through
Stonecutter Island or Tsing Yi) or should open up
terminals in forth Lantau and Ma Wan.
7.5.2
During
discussions it WES clear that the Chinese
authorities work under the supposition that the Fong
Kong Government can do anything which China wishes it to and generally should do so. The visit was very valuable
in demonstrating that Hong Kong too has problems of
In particular, the visit afforded an
resources.
opportunity
to
demonstrate
that
infrastructural
improvements to help China would be very expensive, and
that we had an extreme shortage of land in the vicinity
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