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FRIDAY, MAY 20, 1983
JB: AND WHERE WE'RE GOING FROM HERE, FINALLY SIR EDWARD, WHAT DO YOU THINK HONG KONG WILL LOOK LIKE THENTY YEARS FROM NON?
HE: WELL, I'M ALWAYS REMINDED OF THE FIRST TIME I CAME INTO THIS CITY IN 1945 WHEN I SAILED INTO THE HARBOUR, AND THERE HRS THEN A PRETTY DEAD AND EMPTY CITY, AND ANYBODY WHO WOULD HAVE LOOKED AT IT THEN HOULD HAVE WONDERED WHAT IT WAS GOING TO BE LIKE. YOU HAVE ONLY TO THINK OF THE TIMES THROUGH WHICH HONG KONG HAS CONE AND WHAT A PLACE IT IS TODAY, AND AS I LOOK TO THE FUTURE ! JELIEVE THAT THIS PLACE HAS A REALLY GOOD FUTURE. AND I SAY THAT NOT JUST OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD I THINK THE TALKS ARE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION I THINK STILL THAT SOME SETTLEMENT CAN BE ACHIEVED WHICH WILL BE ACCEPTABLE I THINK THERE IS AN UNDERLYING STRENGTH IN THE ECONOMY WHICH IS COMING THROUGH THERE IS A GOVERNMENT HERE WHICH IS FULLY DETERMINED AND COMMITTED, PUBLICLY COMMITTED, TO CONTINUING TO INVEST IN THIS TERRITORY. NOW TO ME, THOSE ARE INGREDIENTS OF SUCCESS AND CERTAINLY NO BASIS FOR PESSIMISM.
JEI AND WHAT FLAG WILL BE FLYING OVER HONG KONG IN TWENTY YEARS' TIME?
HE I WOULD THINK THE BEST THING FOR PEOPLE TO DO IS NOT TO LOOK AT DETAILS OF WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN. WHAT MATTERS TO ME IS WHAT THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG ARE LOOKING FOR, AND I THINK WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR IS A CONTINUATION OF THE LIFESTYLE THEY ENJOY, WHICH IS A FREEDOM TO COME AND GO AND TO DO THEIR OWN THING, AND THEY ARE LOOKING FOR AN ASSURANCE OF CONTINUITY, AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR TOO.
J31 SIR EDWARD, THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED.
HEI THANK YOU.