BRAINSTORMING DINNER
OUTLINE CHAIRMAN'S BRIEF
Propose broadly three themes:
(i) Where is China going?
(ii)
How can we best live with China?
(iii)
Hong Kong and China: How can we manage the transition?
(i)
China: Future Directions
Paradoxes:
On the one hand:
Massive country; 1.3 bn population.
Total GNP US $350.4 bn
Substantial regional power; P5 member; nuclear power
On the other hand:
Still a developing country; GNP per head only US $315
Still a Marxist, almost Stalinist leadership; highly
sensitive to perceived subversion from abroad,
particularly since collapse of communism in Eastern
Europe
!
So what of the future?
Leadership changes when Deng Xiaoping dies?
Change of direction when Deng dies?
Future of economic reform; inevitablity of political
reform?
Any likelihood of China becoming an easier bedfellow?