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opportunities for British firms to prosper with it. Hong Kong's open market and its level commercial playing field are well worth
preserving. They should be preserved in the face of those, wherever they come from, who seek special favours, or the carping of those who claim, without justification, that the field has been tilted against them.
25.
There is now one final stage to go in the last significant chapter of Britain's imperial history. The role of the departing power will not be easy. Uniquely, in recent colonial history, we will not be transferring power to the elite of a newly independent state. Rather, we will be party to passing sovereignty to another country, and to one of the few in the world that still operates under a Communist system. To fulfill properly our remaining responsibilities will require a great deal of persistent effort here and in London. There will sometimes be a cost. It may be financial, as in making the right arrangements for members of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS); or diplomatic, as in the efforts which have been made to resolve the Vietnamese boat people problem; or domestic, as in the moves in 1989 to give some key people the confidence to remain in Hong Kong by providing British passports for 50,000 heads of households and their families. Hong Kong people are often not as publicly grateful as they should be for such efforts by HMG on their behalf. Excessive concern about their own vulnerability often makes them better at asking, or demanding, than thanking.
26. Carrying out Britain's responsibilities to Hong Kong over the remaining five years of its history as a British territory will doubtless require some difficult decisions. It will also sometimes be necessary to do what is right for Hong Kong despite the pressures and despite the armchair critics of the world's press. There will be times when those in London dealing with Hong Kong affairs will have to keep cool heads and chart the right course between demands from some in Hong Kong, and from many in the international media, for visible signs of Britain "standing up" to China and the fears of many here which become apparent whenever there is an open row between the present and the future sovereign powers. Fulfilling Britain's remaining historical and moral responsibility to Hong Kong will be a tough task. There may be few plaudits. But it is a task which must be carried out. It deserves the effort. It can succeed.