FOREIGN SECRETARY
J
SPEECH
LONDON
16 SEPTEMBER 1991
- 5
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to play.
Kong.
are
But it cannot be done simply by us, you also have a crucial role
Beyond 1997 we the British Government will no longer
have the traditional historical responsibility for Hong Kong. But
Britain will remain a major part of the economic success of Hong
British owned, managed or controlled companies
significant, their capitalisation on the stock market is estimated
at over 20 billion sterling, a huge sum,
a huge sum, and if one thinks of the
companies which are household names which make up that figure and
of their efficiency and success in the modern world, then we can I
think be assured that that participation will continue.
As a symbol and sign of that, but I hope it will be more than a
symbol and a sign, one of the agreements reached in Peking was for
the building of a worthy new British Consulate General to
symbolise our continuing commitment as a British Government to the
success of Hong Kong. Again the background is that before and
after 1997 Britain and China have a shared interest in the success
of Hong Kong.
An illustration of that is the way in which the economic success
of Hong Kong influences the southern part of China, the way in
which indeed the Province of Guandong (phon) has been transformed
in the last 10 years.
Cross-border traffic was 3 million in 1978
and 32 million last year.
Indeed as many of you will have
noticed, when you now fly into Hong Kong you have a sense that you
have arrived earlier than expected because you see below you
sooner than you expected a skyscraper city and you think we have