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History
HONG KONG suffered a grievous loss when the Governor, Sir Edward Youde, GCMG, GCVO, MBE, died on December 5 in the course of a visit to Peking. He was the first Governor to have died in office.
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From the day he assumed the governorship in May 1982, Sir Edward had worked unceasingly for Hong Kong, steering it through a crucial period in its history. He was personally involved in the negotiations which led to the Joint Declaration of the British and Chinese governments on the future of this territory.
The high esteem in which he was held was evident from the unprecedented and spontaneous display of public grief by the people from all sectors of the community, both during and after the lying-in-state and state funeral.
Sir Edward was 62 years of age at the time of his death.
His appointment as Governor of Hong Kong followed upon a most distinguished Foreign Service career, which included an ambassadorship to China.
Following the successful conclusion of the Sino-British negotiations, to which he had devoted so much of his time, Sir Edward was able to concentrate more fully on internal administration.
But he was also concerned to promote wider international understanding of Hong Kong and its dependence upon free access to global markets in order to survive.
His untimely death in Peking occurred in the course of a mission to China to promote Hong Kong trade. Three other such missions during the year took him to Japan, North America and Britain.
These promotions accompanied a marked upturn in trade, industry and business activity in general, which set the pace for a more optimistic outlook to replace the political uncertainty that had earlier weighed upon many aspects of life in the territory.
This trend was also reflected in major development projects to improve the infrastructure of Hong Kong, including expansion of new towns, construction of more hospitals and housing estates, a light rail transit system, and a second underground harbour crossing, which will be one of the largest projects of its kind in the world.
All of these developments gave fresh emphasis to Hong Kong's continued commitment to the future.
A Place from Which to Trade
Hong Kong's history has been one of material and social improvement: the expansion of city and towns by cutting into hillsides, reclaiming the land from the sea, and the building of homes, schools, hospitals and other forms of public facilities to meet the demands of the growing population.