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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 14 July 1988
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staff previously serving in the subvention organisations in Hong Kong may remain in their employment, but this can be deleted.
To sum up. Sir, the Basic Law involves the interests of China and Hong Kong and also the interests of the different strata in Hong Kong, so we should not seek merely to protect the interests of our own strata. As a representative of the social services sector in this Council, I hope the general public in studying and discussing the draft Basic Law should use as their basis the overal interests of Hong Kong and not lose the greater for the less.
Lastly, I would like to add the three social services and social worker organisations are consulting their members on the Basic Law. Views will be forwarded to the drafting committee through the consultative committee. Whatever their views, they will be fully respected by me.
Sir, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. MARTIN LEE: Sir when the Joint Declaration was announced to the people of Hong Kong on 26 September 1984, it was generally very well received. We saw in it a possibility of a bright future for Hong Kong, based on the principles of 'one country, two systems', 'Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong' and 'with a high degree of autonomy'. At the same time the British Govern- ment promised to implement a democratic system of government in Hong Kong well before 1997 so as to anable the people of Hong Kong to practise self-administration.
Then followed a honeymoon year, during which the emigration figures dropped. This continued until 21 November 1985 when Mr. Xu Jiatun gave his first ever press conference during which he impliedly accused the British Government of deviating from the Joint Declaration. And thereafter, there were a number of incidents which made the people of Hong Kong feel that the People's Republic of China (PRC) would interfere in the internal administration of Hong Kong if she thought it was in her interest to do so; and that the British Government would not implement the Joint Declaration to the full.
Thus, emigration figures began to soar again as more and more people in Hong Kong believed that they would not be left alone in their administration of Hong Kong after 1997. Many people no longer believe that the Basic Law would be adhered to by the Central People's Government (CPG) of the PRC after 1997.
After the publication of the draft Basic Law at the end of April this year, a number of adverse criticisms have been voiced by numerous organisations and individuals about quite a few articles contained in it. More people have decided to leave Hong Kong. But can anything be done about it? And can confidence be restored to the people of Hong Kong? I think so. But it will not be easy. And both the British and Chinese Government must co-operate and do something about it; and it must be done immediately. Enough damage has been done to the
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