5.
The Governor further asked Senator Mitchell on whether there
was any dispute in giving China one more year to enable her to make
improvements. The Senator replied that as far as he was aware
there was no dispute but it appeared to him that a decision would
need to be made soon. He would have no problem in giving China one
more year and he would not favour unrealistic conditions to be made
on China. The question how was how far the US should go in meeting
her objectives without going over the line.
He thought the
President would have to use the prospect of legislation to good
advantage.
6. The Governor thanked the Senator for being candid with him.
He was grateful for US support for Hong Kong. China always feared
about an international conspiracy against her. He hoped the US
Administration would take Chinese sensitivity into account when
processing the MFN issue.
Nonetheless Hong Kong was an
international city and it is inevitable that other countries would
have an interest on Hong Kong. China would have to realise that
the way she treated Hong Kong before and after 1997 would be seen
by the rest of the World as a touchstone for her emergence as a
full player in the international community.
In reply to a question from Senator Mitchell, the Governor
said that the population of Hong Kong was stabilising at six
million. Our per capita income was second to Japan in Asia and we
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