2
common law principles and provide substantial protections for individual rights, will remain basically unchanged for at least 50 years after 1997;
Whereas the current draft of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China provides that freedoms of speech, assembly, and asso- ciation are to be maintained in Hong Kong after 1997;
Whereas the United States, with about $6,000,000,000 in direct foreign investment and bilateral trade estimated at $16,000,000,000, has a strong interest in a stable and eco- nomically prosperous Hong Kong after 1997;
Whereas the United Kingdom and other industrialized nations also have strong interests in a stable and economically pros- perous Hong Kong, which is now the 11th largest trading entity in the world;
Whereas the Joint Declaration provides that Hong Kong Spe- cial Administrative Region "may on its own maintain and develop economic and cultural relations and conclude rele- vant agreements with states, regions, and relevant interna- tional organizations," and "will retain the status of an inter- national financial centre";
Whereas measures to enhance this status, including efforts to es- tablish the offices of major public international organizations in the Special Administrative Region, would help to pro- mote confidence in the future of Hong Kong;
Whereas the stability necessary for ensuring prosperity in Hong Kong will be best secured if the citizens of Hong Kong are confident that their basic freedoms will be maintained after
1997;
HCON 227 IH