QUITE RIGHTLY TOO. AND I WOULD HAVE DESPAIRED, ACTUALLY, IF THEY HAD SHARED IT WITH US AND THEY DID NOT.
MR HOWELL:
CAN I BRING IN MR LESTER NOW, WITO ALSO WANTS TO SAY A WORD.
MR LESTER:
I WOULD JUST LIKE TO MENTION ONE POINT WHICH HAS NOT BEEN RAISED SO FAR, AND THAT WAS THAT WE DID NOT ONLY GO TO BEIJING WHEN WE WERE IN CHINA, WE ALBO WENT TO SHANGHAI, TO GUANGDONG AND TO GHENZHEN. AND I THINK THAT THOSE OF MY COLLEAGUES WHO WENT FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE WHOLE DEVELOPMENT HAD A TREMENDOUS IMPACT. FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAD BEEN BEFORE IT HAD AN EVEN GREATER IMPACT BECAUSE WE SAW WHAT WAS THERE BARELY FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO. AND THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT DEVELOPMENT AND THAT TREMENDOUS INVOLVEMENT OF HONG KONG INVESTMENT AND HONG KONG EXPERTISE, L THINK, IS ACTUALLY A SIGN OF THE FUTURE AND ONE WHICH IS RATHER MORE POSITIVE AND ACTUALLY POSSIBLY PUTS THE PRESENT NEGOTIATIONS AND THE JOCKEYING FOR POSITION INTO A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. CHINA ITSELF NOW HAS SUCH AN INVOLVEMENT IN TERMS OF A CAPITALIST ECONOMY IN THOSE REGIONS, AND THE NEED FOR HONG KONG EXPERTISE AND INVESTMENT IS SO GREAT, THAT ONE FEELS THAT WHATEVER IS
50 HAPPENING IN THE SHORT TERM, IN THE LONG TERM THAT IS VERY MUCH TO THE BENEFIT OF THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG.
MR HOWELL:
ONE MORE QUESTION AND THEN I WILL BRING IN MR HARRIS.
QUESTION (DAILY TELEGRAPH) :
MR HOWELL, I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUES ARE GOING TO TAIWAN THIS WEEKEND AND THAT YOUR VISIT THERE REPRESENTS A NEW LEVEL OF PARLIAMENTARY INTEREST IN THAT ISLAND PROVINCE. DURING THE PLANNING OF YOUR TRIP AND DURING THE EXECUTION OF IT, HAVE THE CHINESE MAINLAND AUTHORITIES SAID ANYTHING TO YOU ABOUT YOUR VISIT TO TAIWAN? IF 30, WHAT DID THEY SAY AND HOW HAVE YOU REPLIED?
MR HOWELL:
WELL THEY SAID AND I THINK I AM PARAPHRASING, ONLY BECAUSE I CANNOT REMEMBER THE PRECISE WORDS - THAT THEY WERE NOT VERY HAPPY ABOUT IT. WE POINTED OUT THAT OTHER SELECT COMMITTEES HAVE VISITED TAIWAN, BOTH THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT VERY RECENTLY, FROM WESTMINSTER, AND THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND INDUSTRY SOME LITTLE WHILE AGO, SO THAT THE VISIT OF A SELECT COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT, WHICH IS NOT THE GOVERNMENT, IT IS BACKBENCH MP'S A FURTHER GROUP OF BACKBENCH MP'S GOING, IN THIS CASE THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TO TAIWAN, NOTHING NEW.
WAS THAT WAS NOTED BY THE CHINESE WHO REPEATED THEIR POINT THAT THEY DID NOT LIKE THE IDEA BUT IT WAS LEFT TO US TO DECIDE AND THERE THE MATTER FELL AWAY, AND THAT IS ALL.
QUESTION (DAILY TELEGRAPH):
DO YOU REGARD YOUR VISIT TO TAIWAN AS SEEMLY IN THE CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES OF SINO-BRITISH TENSION, OR DO YOU FEEL THAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN WISER TO RESPECT THE WISHES OF THE MAINLAND AUTHORITIES IN THIS PARTICULAR REGARD?
10
1