following threats from the Americans of trade sanctions, the Government announced that the Americans' pro- posal had been accepted.
The reasons given in support of the proposal are without merit, in many cases misleading, and pale into in- significance when compared with the following:-
-rightly or wrongly, it will be as-
sumed that the Hong Kong Govern- ment has given in to political pres- sure and threats of trade sanctions;
confidence in the system of Govern- ment in Hong Kong by consultation and consensus will be damaged;
-the practice of Hong Kong law will
come under the control of unqua- lified persons and, as a result, safeguards of standards will be weakened;
-the independence of the legal pro- fession will be put at risk as foreign firms, including firms from the United States and China will con- trol the practice of Hong Kong law;
the exposure of local law firms to international transactions will be reduced for reasons unrelated to open competition;
- localisation of the legal profession will become more difficult; and
the Law Society will be placed in an impossible position and its plans to nurture a strong and independent legal profession firmly rooted in Hong Kong will be hampered.
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