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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 14 July 1988
1897
Hong Kong, and make even further concessions to us like a considerate and loving parent. After all, what we are asking for are clearly within the Joint Declaration and do not impinge on Chinese sovereignty. Perhaps the leaders of China can forgo their paternalistic insistence on sovereignty or national pride or simply face. For we are all proud to be Chinese, and we fully support the return of sovereignty over Hong Kong to the PRC, but in accordance with the terms of the Joint Declaration.
I urge the Chinese Government to take full advantage of this period of consultation on the draft Basic Law by encouraging the people of Hong Kong to speak up on their own future, and by making all necessary amendments to what is, in my view, an imperfect first draft. For if the views of the people of Hong Kong are taken into account and if satisfactory amendments are made to this draft, then confidence may return, albeit gradually, to Hong Kong. But if no satisfactory amendments are made to the draft, then one thing is certain: many more people will leave Hong Kong long before the Basic Law takes effect in 1997.
As was pointed out by some of my hon. Colleagues yesterday, the leaders of China are doing a very remarkable and commendable thing by conducting an extensive consultation on the first draft of the Basic Law. And it would be a great pity if, inspite of such open-mindedness, the final product were to be one which was not generally acceptable to the great majority of our people.
Sir, although I am a member of the BLDC, I cannot guarantee to the people of Hong Kong that the provisions of the Basic Law will be adhered to in full after 1997, and in the way that we have understood them. For we will have to wait and see. But one thing I know, and that is, if we do not even get it right on paper now, then we know for sure that the policies of 'one country, two systems', 'Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong' and 'with a high degree of autonomy' are doomed to fail. I therefore fully support the motion and urge all the people of Hong Kong to speak up on their behalf, and that of their children.
Sir, this may be the most important time for the future of Hong Kong. And historians will look back to this period and say:
'It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us,