FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 1980
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INTERVIEWER: TURNING TO DEMOCRATIC REFORM IN HONG KONG, IS
THERE ANY PROSPECT FOR THIS? IT'S A PERENNIAL QUESTION AND IT IS ONE THAT THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE IN HONG KONG ARE BEGINNING TO PERHAPS THINK EVEN MORE ABOUT NOW FOR THE EIGHTIES. IS THERE ANY QUESTION OF THIS?
SIR JACK: DEMOCRATIC REFORM AND INDEPENDENCE, I SUPPOSE, ARE
THINGS WHICH ARE TALKED ABOUT FROM TIME TO TIME BUT CERTAINLY INDEPENDENCE, AS WE ALL KNOW — QUITE OUT OF THE QUESTION. HONG KONG IS BRITISH OR IT IS CHINESE. I THINK IN TERMS OF DEMOCRATIC REFORM I THINK WHAT IS IMPORTANT HERE IS, GETTING TO PUBLIC OPINION, INCREASINGLY INVOLVING HONG KONG PEOPLE IN THE GOVERNMENT OF HONG KONG. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IT IS NOT NECESSARILY THE CASE THAT WE HAVE TO FOLLOW THE WESTMINSTER STYLE, WESTMINSTER PATTERN OF DEMOCRACY TO ACHIEVE THIS. INDEED AT THIS VERY MOMENT WE ARE GOING AHEAD WITH AN EXPERIMENT IN KWUN TONG WHICH I HOPE NOT ONLY WILL BE SUCCESSFUL BUT EXPANDED TO OTHER AREAS WHICH WILL BE FOLLOWING THIS THOUGHT THROUGH, THAT WE SHOULD BE DOING MORE TO INVOLVE THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG WITH THE IR DAY-TO-DAY AFFAIRS. AND I THINK THIS IS WHAT IS NEEDED. WE INCREASINGLY, ESPECIALLY YOUNG PEOPLE WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THE YOUNG PEOPLE AT THE UNIVERSITIES AND HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE TOWARDS OUR FUTURE. I THINK INCREASINGLY THEY WILL WANT TO SAY AT THAT LOCAL LEVEL AND I THINK THAT IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT AND THAT IS WHAT WE MUST ACHIEVE.
INTERVIEWER: TURNING TO HONG KONG-CHINA RELATIONS, SIR JACK,
YOU'VE ALLUDED TO THIS BRIEFLY EARLIER ON, BUT COULD I GET YOU TO BE A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC? WE KNOW THEY ARE GOOD, ARE THEY GOING TO IMPROVE, ARE THEY GOING TO BRING US CLOSER TOGETHER, ARE WE GOING TO SEE HONG KONG AND CHINA INCREASINGLY ALONG THE ROAD TO CO-OPERATION?
SIR JACK THE SIMPLE ANSWER TO THAT IS YES, I HAVE NO DOUBT
THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN. WE ALREADY ARE FINDING, OF COURSE, WE HAVE INTEREST IN JOINT VENTURES AND IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS, THROUGH TRAIN TO CANTON, AIR SERVICE TO CANTON AND NOW WE ARE CONSIDERING THE POSSIBILITY OF A BUS SERVICE INTO GUANGDONG, SO YES OF COURSE THERE WILL BE INCREASING CO-OPERATION, INCREASING UNDERSTANDING TOO. I HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT, HONG KONG'S VALUE TO CHINA AND YOU DON'T NEED ME TO EMPHASISE THIS, THIS IS WELL KNOWN, BUT WITH THEIR INTEREST AND WITH THE IR CONCENTRATION ON THE FOUR MODERNISATIONS, HONG KONG, PRODUCING SOMETHING LIKE ONE-THIRD OF THEIR FOREIGN EXCHANGE EARNINGS, MUST BE OF TREMENDOUS VALUE AND I HAVE NO DOUBT TOO THAT ONE OF THE IR AIMS MUST BE TO MAXIMISE THEIR EARNINGS THROUGH AND IN HONG KONG,
INTERVIEWER:
BRINGING US A LITTLE CLOSER TO JOHN CITIZEN, WHAT IS THE LIKELIHOOD OF AN OPEN BORDER BETWEEN HONG KONG AND SAY, GUANGDONG?