FROM
BROADCAST MON CO
3
5.1988
10:31
F.
is their chairman, MP David Howell.
I know you can't give us the
details of the select committee but do you think that the situation has now altered fundamentally in negotiations in the
hand over?
DAVID HOWELL MP:
I think it has altered enormously but many of the things that have happened have merely reinforced the fears and concerns that the committee found when they were in Hong Kong, namely their fears that China was very unstable and could go through an extremely ugly period.
K.Wi
D.H:
So what should Britain's response be now?
Well I think the point to bear in mind in this situation, with these appalling atrocities in Peking, is that the Chinese Government is not only bloodstained and pilloried in the eyes of the world for its barbarity but also of course it is very weak and therefore this is a time when maybe some of the demands and requirements for safeguarding Hong Kong as a separate system and absolutely ensuring its stability and ensuring that the Chinese keep out of Hong Kong can be reinforced and made much firmer,
K.W:
Is one way to ensure the stability putting down the foundations for a democracy, all the different aspects of it to exist in Hong Kong as quickly as possible?
D.H:
Yes, without a doubt this is ... this is certainly one of the requirements and the good news amidst all this bloodshed and carnage is that Hong Kong itself is being driven into a common view that they must have full democracy and I think that is the
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