WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1986
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MR LEE EXPRESSED HIS WORRY THAT THE TIDE OF EMIGRATION IN HONG KONG HAD NOT SUBSIDED ALMOST TWO YEARS AFTER THE SIGNING OF THE JOINT DECLARATION AND NOTED WITH CONCERN THAT YOUNG PEOPLE SHOWING GREAT PROMISE IN THEIR CAREER WERE NOW JOINING THE QUEUES FOR EMIGRATION.
HE SAID THIS WOULD CONTINUE SO LONG AS PEOPLE HERE DID NOT SEE ANY POSSIBILITY OF THE FUTURE SAR GOVERNMENT BEING ABLE TO PRESERVE THEIR FREEDOM, UNLESS THEY COULD BE CONVINCED THAT THERE WAS A FUTURE FOR THEM HERE AND THAT THEIR FREEDOM COULD AND WOULD BE PRESERVED.
+ IN PRACTICAL TERMS, IT MEANS WE MUST ENSURE THAT WHAT HAS BEEN PROMISED TO US IN THE JOINT DECLARATION WILL NOT BE TAKEN BACK FROM US IN THE BASIC LAW WE MUST ENSURE THAT ALL THE IMPORTANT OUTSTANDING ISSUES WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN AGREED UPON IN THE JOINT DECLARATION WILL BE RESOLVED IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE FINAL VERSION OF THE BASIC LAW WILL NOT FALL BELOW WHAT MOST PEOPLE CONSIDER TO BE ALREADY THE BOTTOM LINE AS CONTAINED IN THE JOINT DECLARATION AND WILL BE ACCEPTABLE TO THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, HE SAID.
BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG MUST SEE THAT THIS GOVERNMENT HAD THE WILL AND THE ABILITY TO GOVERN WITHOUT INTERVENTION FROM PEKING, HE SAID.
MR LEE SAID THAT IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THIS, THE CHINESE AND BRITISH GOVERNMENTS MUST LEARN TO TRUST EACH OTHER MORE, AND THERE WERE ENCOURAGING SIGNS THAT THIS WAS HAPPENING.
LIKEWISE, HE SAID, THERE SHOULD BE MORE TRUST BETWEEN CHINA AND HONG KONG.
AS FOR HIS COLLEAGUES IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, MR LEE CALLED ON THEM TO LEARN TO FEEL AS THE PEOPLE FEEL, TO THINK AS THE PEOPLE THINK, AND TO SAY WHAT THE PEOPLE DARE NOT SAY.
+FOR IF WE CANNOT PUT THE INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE ABOVE OUR OWN, WE DO NOT DESERVE TO BE ON THIS COUNCIL, WHETHER ELECTED OR APPOINTED, HE SAID.
HE ALSO URGED COUNCILLORS TO CULTIVATE A SENSE OF BELONGING WHICH HE SAID WAS SO FAR LACKING, AND WITHOUT WHICH THERE COULD BE NO DEDICATION AND NO FUTURE FOR HONG KONG.
MR LEE CRITICISED THE GROUP OF PEOPLE IN HONG KONG WHOM HE SAID DID NOT BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY AND CLAIMED UNJUSTIFIABLY THAT DIRECT ELECTIONS WOULD LEAD TO SOCIAL UNREST WHICH WOULD IN TURN RUIN THE ECONOMY.
-+THEY INSISTED THAT THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG ARE NOT POLITICALLY MATURE ENOUGH TO CHOOSE THEIR OWN CHIEF EXECUTIVE OR LEGISLATOR, HE SAID.
/HE REMINDED