repression?
-
Our aim over the last decade has been to ensure that
when Hong Kong rejoins China it does so with its way of life both economic and social preserved within the
People's Republic of China. We therefore negotiated with
China in 1984 an agreement that on its return to China,
Hong Kong would have a special status which would protect
the economic strength of the colony and the rights of its
people. This need has been recognised by the Chinese as
the principle of one country, two systems. The
agreement, known as the Joint Declaration, is a good one.
We intend to hold to it because there is no other
sensible future for Hong Kong. Very few people argue that we should tear the agreement up, although a great many urge us to behave as though it did not exist. This
-really--makes no sense. We have a responsibility to
Hong Kong which can only be fulfilled by ensuring that the handover in 1997 is as smooth as possible. That is
why one provision of the Joint Declaration requires
intensified cooperation betwen the British and Chinese
Governments in the second half of the period before 1997.
Hong Kong would rightly think that it had been ill served
by us if we deliberately chose to spend the next six
years in bickering and confrontation with China so that
1997 came as a dramatic shock for which no serious
preparation had been made in the form of practical
cooperation.
Obstacles to this practical cooperation are substantial. The Joint Declaration with the Chinese
established a Joint Liaison Group to consult on matters connected with the transition to Chinese government in
1997. Until 1989 this worked reasonably well but since
then progress has been at a snail's pace. There have