HONG KONG
H
ONG Kong's many friends in Parliament have agonised during the last few weeks Over its problems, which are amongst the most difficult overseas problems I can recall during twenty-five years in the House. Britain will do its best for Hong Kong but there are some things which cannot be achieved. One of these is to grant the right of abode in the United Kingdom to the five million Hong Kong residents who are entitled to British Dependent Territory Citizenship. It is virtually impossible to find
'A free society in Hong Kong has never depended on the existence of freedom in China'
a Member who supports such a proposal. This is not because of any antipathy towards Hong Kong Chinese, for whose qualities
those of us who know them have great respect. It is a reflection of the sensitivity which immigration issues have acquired over the last forty years.
to
In addition to considering how introduce some flexibility into the present rules the Government are therefore right to be taking the lead in seeking an international arrangement which would give the people of Hong Kong the prospect of moving elsewhere in the event of a serious breach of the Sino/British Joint Declaration.
This will take time to arrange. Meanwhile I hope we shall hear no more voices from Hong Kong alleging that Britain is more interested in developing its own trade with China than in securing a good future for Hong Kong. This is profoundly unhelpful for all of us in Parliament who have Hong Kong's interests at heart and who know the allegation to be wholly untrue. The motivation of successive Government during my time in Parliament has been to secure the best possible future for Hong Kong.
While I fully understand how the Tiananmen massacre has shocked the people of the territory, I believe the time has come
HANDS OFF HONG KONG
By the Rt Hon Sir Peter Blaker
KCMGMP Chairman of the All-Party British Hong Kong Parliamentary Group
when they would be wise to turn their minds, in addition to the right of abode, to other ways of guaranteeing Hong Kong's future building on the Joint Declaration; improving the Draft Basic Law; securing agreement with China that the presence of the People's Liberation Army in Hong Kong after 1997 will be minimal or, preferably, nil, and that the right of interpretation of the Basic Law will rest in Hong Kong; getting in place a Bill of Rights.
A free society in Hong Kong has never depended on the existence of freedom in China. China has not been democratic in the 148 years of Hong Kong's existence. The assumption behind the Joint Declaration and the concept of "one country, two systems" is that China may remain communist until 2047 but that Hong Kong will continue to be run by Hong Kong people and to enjoy its free
way of life. If they want China to stick to the Joint Declaration and not interfere in the
internal politics of Hong Kong, should not Hong Kong's people ask themselves whether they are wise to interfere in the internal politics of China? Is it really their role to encourage democracy in China?
The best guarantee for Hong Kong's future is that it should remain indispensable to China. At present it is indispensable in two ways. The first is economic. It does forty per cent of China's trade in both directions. It accounts for thirty per cent of China's foreign currency earnings. It is the major investor in China, and the gate through which China has access to the world's technology and skills. No other port on the China coast comes anywhere near it in these respects. It has no rival. It can only continue to play these roles if China honours its agreement with us.
Equally important, China's wish to reunite Taiwan with the mainland cannot be achieved by force because there is too much sea between them. It can only be done by example. The only relevant example is Hong Kong. If Hong Kong remains free and prosperous after 1997 this would be an encouragement to Taiwan to agree to
JULY 17, 1989 The House Magazine
reunification. But if China breaks her agreement with the United Kingdom she could bid goodbye to reunification with Taiwan. In spite of all the turmoil in China over the last eighty years - turmoil which has been frequently more violent and frightening than the events of 1989 - China has through all that time kept its hands off Hong Kong.
The Chinese civil war, the arrival of Mao-tse-tung's forces at Hong Kong's
'They have successfully come through equally alarming times in the
past and with confidence, they can come through this crisis too'
border in 1949, the Korean war, and UN trade embargo on China, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and the Red Guards - through all these events China left Hong Kong unscathed. Indeed, when in 1967 local Hong Kong communists tried to take over the territory with bombs and rioting Peking positively disapproved.
During all this time the position of Hong Kong was governed by treaties which China regarded as “unequal" and therefore invalid. Now that we have a treaty which is obviously “equal", and registered with the U.N., why should we think that China is less likely to observe it?
The poeple of Hong Kong will not easily forget Tiananmen Square. But they have successfully come through equally alarming times in the past and, with confidence, they can come through this crisis too. We must do all we can to help them to regain that confidence. But the country which is best placed to help in this process is China itself, which has almost as much to gain from restored confidence in Hong Kong as do Hong Kong's people. China has already in recent days reaffirmed the "one country, two systems" policy. We need some more practical and helpful signs from China.
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