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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6,
1984
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STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF STATE, SIR GEOFFREY HOWE, IN HOUSE OF COMMONS DEBATE ON HONG KONG'S FUTURE
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THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL-TEXT OF A STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS, SIR GEOFFREY HOWE, AT THE HOUSE OF COMMONS DEBATE ON HONG KONG'S FUTURE:
MR SPEAKER,
I BEG TO MOVE THE MOTION WHICH STANDS ON THE ORDER PAPER
IN THE NAME OF MY RIGHT HONOURABLE AND HONOURABLE FRIENDS AND MYSELF. THE DRAFT AGREEMENT WHICH IS COMMENDED BY THE MOTION FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE HOUSE IS A DOCUMENT OF HISTORIC IMPORTANCE. IT HAS A SIGNIFICANCE WHICH GOES WELL BEYOND HONG KONG ITSELF. BUT IT IS WITH THE UNIQUE AND THRIVING COMMUNITY OF HONG KONG THAT THE HOUSE IS RIGHTLY CONCERNED TODAY.
HONG KONG OWES ITS SUCCESS TO THE SPIRIT OF FREE ENTERPRISE AND RESOURCESFULNESS, WHICH HAS FOR GENERATIONS BEEN DISPLAYED BY THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG OF ALL RACES. IT IS THAT SPIRIT THAT HAS CREATED HONG KONG'S UNIQUE WAY OF LIFE.
AND IT IS THE PRESERVATION OF THAT WAY OF LIFE, AND ITS RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS THE PROSPERITY AND STABILITY ON WHICH IT HAS BEEN BUILT, THAT HAS BEEN OUR FIRM OBJECTIVE. WE SOUGHT THAT THROUGHOUT ALL THE WORK THAT HAS PRODUCED THE AGREEMENT. THAT IS THE SUBJECT OF TODAY'S DEBATE. AND IN THAT WORK I HAVE BEEN MOST GRATEFUL TO THE OFFICIAL OPPOSITION AND TO HONOURABLE MEMBERS IN ALL PARTS OF THE HOUSE FOR THE UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORT THAT THEY HAVE GIVEN ME IN A TASK WHICH I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FEEL I HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKING ON BEHALF OF THE WHOLE HOUSE.
THE AGREEMENT THAT HAS RESULTED MUST OF COURSE BE JUDGED AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF THE HISTORICAL REALITIES THAT CREATED THE PROBLEM WITH WHICH WE ARE CONCERNED TODAY. IN MAY 1898 THE SECOND CONVENTION OF PEKING WAS SIGNED IN PEKING BY THE BRITISH MINISTER RESIDENT THERE, SIR CLAUDE MACDONALD. I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT AT THE TIME WHEN HE SIGNED THAT DOCUMENT HE HAD ANY IDEA OF THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PROBLEMS THAT HE WOULD BE BEQUEATHING TO THE PRESENT GENERATION.
BUT UNDER THAT CONVENTION, THE AREA WHICH LATER BECAME KNOWN AS THE NEW TERRITORIES OF HONG KONG WAS LEASED TO BRITAIN FOR A PERIOD OF 99 YEARS. THESE TERRITORIES WERE THUS ADDED TO THE RELATIVELY SMALL AREAS OF KOWLOON AND HONG KONG ISLAND, WHICH HAD BEEN CEDED TO BRITAIN DURING THE PREVIOUS HALF CENTURY. THIS 1898 LEASE COVERS 92 PERCENT OF THE LAND TERRITORY OF HONG KONG AS IT IS TODAY. IT IS THAT LEASE THAT EXPIRES ON 30 JUNE 1997, AND THE NEW TERRITORIES WILL THEN REVERT TO CHINA. THE CEDED TERRITORIES, WHICH CONSTITUTE THE OTHER 8 PERCENT, HAVE IN THE PAST EIGHTY YEARS BECOME COMPLETELY INTEGRATED WITH THE LEASED TERRITORIES. THEY WOULD NOT BE VIABLE ON THEIR OWN.
/IT IS
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