THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1986
PUBLIC DEBATE ON HK'S FUTURE HEALTHY, AMERICANS TOLD
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THE CONTINUING PUBLIC DEBATE ON DEVELOPING A RESPONSIBLE AND REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT FOR THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG WAS A HEALTHY ONE, IF AT TIMES A LITTLE CONFUSING TO OUTSIDE OBSERVERS, THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR DAVID AKERS-JONES TOLD AMERICANS TODAY.
+SCARCELY A DAY PASSES WITHOUT SOME FRESH COMMENT, SOME NEW VOICE. SOME FRESH TURN OF EVENTS, SIR DAVID SAID IN A KEYNOTE ADDRESS TO THE HONG KONG-U.S. AND U.S.-HONG KONG ECONOMIC COOPERATION COMMITTEES' THIRD PLENARY SESSION IN WASHINGTON, D.C. TODAY (THURSDAY).
HOW HONG KONG WAS GOING TO DEVELOP A GOVERNMENT WHICH WOULD REFLECT THE HIGH DEGREE OF AUTONOMY PROMISED BY THE SINO-BRITISH AGREEMENT AND WHICH WOULD LIVE COMFORTABLY WITH THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OF CHINA WAS +A TASK OF ABSORBING INTEREST,+ SIR DAVID SAID.
+NO MODEL FOR IT CAN BE FOUND IN TEXTBOOK THEORIES, NOR IN THE PREVIOUS HISTORY OF DECOLONISATION. WE HAVE TO FIND OUR OWN WAY, HE SAID.
THERE WERE 1.4 MTCLION VOTERS A START HAD ALREADY BEEN MADE. ON THE ELECTORAL ROLE AND A MIXTURE OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT ELECTIONS TAKING PLACE AT DISTRICT, REGIONAL AND CENTRAL LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT. AND IN 1987 THERE WOULD BE A REVIEW BEFORE THE NEXT ELECTIONS TOOK PLACE IN 1988.
+HOWEVER, WE SHOULD NOT FORGET THAT CIRCUMSTANCES IN HONG KONG ARE UNUSUAL AND WE WILL HAVE TO FIND SOLUTIONS WHICH MAY APPEAR UNFAMILIAR TO OUTSIDE OBSERVERS, SIR DAVID SAID,
AN EXAMPLE OF THE SEARCH FOR NEW SOLUTIONS WAS THE BELIEF THAT, GIVEN HONG KONG'S DEPENDENCE ON COMMERCE, TRADE AND INDUSTRY, IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO HAVE IN THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT MEN WHO COULD BRING IN EXPERT KNOWLEDGE FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF HONG KONG'S ECONOMIC LIFE.
THUS THE BANKING INDUSTRY, THE MAIN INDUSTRIAL ORGANISATIONS AND THE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE COULD NOW EACH ELECT MEMBERS DIRECTLY TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, SIR DAVID POINTED OUT.
THERE WAS NO DOUBT IN HIS MIND THAT ONE OF HONG KONG'S STRENGTHS DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS WAS THAT BUSINESSMEN WERE FREE TO CARRY ON MAKING THEIR OWN DECISIONS. AS A RESULT, THE ECONOMY DESPITE A DOWNTURN IN EXPORTS LAST YEAR, CONTINUED TO PERFORM WELL. WHILE EXPORTS DECLINED, SIR DAVID SAID, IMPORTS CONTINUED TO GROW, AND FEW PEOPLE REALISED THAT HONG KONG WAS THE 17TH LARGEST IMPORTER IN THE WORLD - HIGHER THAN AUSTRALIA, CHINA, OR SWEDEN, AND, WHILE HONG KONG MIGHT BE JUDGED AS AN EXPORTER OF CLOTHING, VERY FEW PEOPLE REALISED ALSO THAT HONG KONG WAS THE THIRD LARGEST IMPORTER OF TEXTILES IN THE WORLD.