I
8
له
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1984
ANSWER:
+WHAT I HAVE SAID IS THAT THE PRESENT STATUS OF HONG KONG IS SOMETHING WHICH IS OF IMPORTANCE BECAUSE IT DOES HAVE, NOT JUST IN THE GATT, BUT IN OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS, AN IMPORTANT INDEPENDENT POSITION WITH A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT RIGHTS ALREADY SET OUT FOR HONG KONG. AND THE IMPORTANT THING, WHICH AS I HAVE SAID IN MY STATEMENT THE AGREEMENT WILL SECURE, IS A CONTINUANCE OF THAT SAME DEGREE OF INDEPENDENCE WHICH HONG KONG NOW ENJOYS - ALTHOUGH UNDER DIFFERENT AUSPICES.+
QUESTION NINE, LAI TING YIU, HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL :
+ IT SEEMS THAT YOU APPRECIATE AND ACCEPT THE CONCEPT OF TWO SYSTEMS WITHIN ONE COUNTRY. I WANT TO ASK ON WHAT GROUNDS YOU BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE ON THIS POLICY AND IN THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG AND DO YOU SEE ANY UNSOLVABLE CONFLICT BETWEEN CHINESE COMMUNISM AND HONG KONG CAPITALISM IN THE LONG RUN -- SAY AFTER 2000? IF SO, WHY DO YOU ACCEPT THIS CONCEPT?+
ANSWER:
+ I THINK THE CONCEPT, AS I SAID IN MY STATEMENT, OF TWO SYSTEMS WITHIN ONE COUNTRY WITH PLAIN, EXPRESS AND CLEAR PROVISION IN THE AGREEMENT, FOR THE CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF HONG KONG CAPITAL IST SYSTEMS IS A MOST IMPORTANT VISION. IT IS A MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF STATESMANSHIP TO HAVE VISUALISED THAT ARRANGEMENT -- THE TWO SYSTEMS TO EXIST ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER IN ONE COUNTRY. IT IS FOR THAT REASON THAT IT IS IMPORANT FOR US TO SECURE THE RIGHT CONCLUSIONS IN THE AGREEMENT. THINK THE BEST ASSURANCE OF THAT PROSPECT, WHICH IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT ONE, IS A BINDING, CLEAR, INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT. AND THE FACT IS THAT WE HAVE IN OUR RECENT TALKS IN PEKING MADE VERY SUBSTANTIAL STRIDES TOWARDS ACHIEVING JUST THAT.+
QUESTION 10, SALLY BLYTH, RADIO TELEVISION HONG KONG:
+YOU HAVE MADE IT QUITE CLEAR, SIR GEOFFREY, THE TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE JOINT LIA ION GROUP; AND THAT YOU HAVE HAD SOME ASSURANCES FROM CHINA. BUT HAVE YOU HAD ASSURANCES FROM THE CHINESE SIDE THAT THEY WON'T INTERFERE IN THE AFFAIRS OF HONG KONG BEFORE 1997? AND THE FACT THAT THE JOINT LIAISON GROUP WILL BE BASED HERE IN 1988 DO YOU NOT FEEL THAT THIS WILL PSYCHOLOGICALLY UNDERMINE THE AUTHORITY OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG IN THE MINDS OF THE HONG KONG PEOPLE AND PEOPLE ABROAD?+
/ANSWER: