Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations, I appear here today to give my
on
personal views concerning Hong Kong's reversion to China on July
1, 1997, the ongoing transition to Beijing's sovereignty, and the
implications of all this for American policy. I speak for
myself, not for the National Committee on United States-China
Relations, of which I am president. I testify here as an
individual who has lived in Hong Kong, spent his adult life
studying Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan, and who is deeply
committed to the welfare of Hong Kong's people and the American
interests and values that are bound up with the fate of the
unique city.
This hearing occurs in the context of considering
legislation (8. 1731) that would, for the first time in American
history, legislatively specify an overall United States policy
toward Hong Kong. The proposed legislation covers the period
prior to the July 1, 1997 transition to Chinese sovereignty [the
period of United Kingdom responsibility] and thereafter (the
period of PRC sovereignty and the designation of Hong Kong as a "Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of
China (PRC)].
In considering the question of whether or not to adopt such legislation, three broad issues need to be addressed: 1) Why is
2) What are the Hong Kong important to the United States?
current trends and developments in Hong Kong and how might sone
2