Job No. 166880
HANSARD/JUL13:09
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 13 July 1988
1847
parties and to try to put oneself in the angle of another person, then perhaps we are able to solve the second problem. Thirdly, as to whether certain contents should be included in the Basic Law, I agree to the comment made by Mr. Andrew WONG, Convenor of the Constitutional Development Panel. He said, *if a certain policy is so important that it should be written into the Basic Law, then it should be included.'
Concerning the articles on social welfare, education, as well as medical services, there are very clear stipulations. So economic affairs are not the only topic on which we include details. It is because Hong Kong consists of various interests. Therefore, we have to take care of various interests. We will consider the views expressed by various parties.
Sir, as the Hong Kong Convenor of the Economic Subgroup of the Basic Law Drafting Committee. I would like to comment on the background of the drafting of Chapter V. Before the first subgroup meeting, Hong Kong drafters have met and their understanding was that Hong Kong has attained very good economic development. Therefore our objective was to review the factors leading to the success of the Hong Kong economy and to assess these factors as well as the environment of Hong Kong, together with our forecast for the future. At the same time, we also studied the content as well as the spirit of the Joint Declaration and, after that, we proposed certain points for inclusion, including a balanced Budget, low tax policy, as well as no control on foreign exchange, and so on. At that time we had not expected that it would lead to many controversies.
After the publication of the draft Basic Law, we now learn from various channels comments that are of quality as well as important. These comments include comments from our Senior Member, Miss Lydia Dunn, who has just made the opening speech. Most of the comments are about article 105, that the Government of the Hong Kong SAR shall, over a number of fiscal years taken as a whole, maintain a basic balance between total budgetary revenues and expenditure. Under article 107, Hong Kong SAR shall continue to practise a low tax policy; and under article 110, the Hong Kong SAR shall continue to practise free and open monetary and financial policies. Some people think that such articles should be deleted. Just now I have also heard Mr. F. K. Hu, who is both my colleague as well as my former classmates. We usually have similar opinions on various topics. Obviously, members of the Basic Law Drafting Committee will carefully consider the views expressed by various parties. I feel that if the majority of the BLDC agree to make the necessary amendments, I will not insist on my own opinion.
Nevertheless, I feel that I shall make some personal comments. First, I think Hong Kong must never have a deficit Budget over a long period of time. Therefore, a balanced Budget should be stipulated in the Basic Law. A so-called balanced Budget does not mean that we have to spend all our revenues. Of course, it is a good idea to have a surplus to cater for the rainy days. The reason