13
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 1987
MR CHEN SAID: "FIRSTLY, WE NEED TO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT HONG KONG IS NOT AND WILL NOT BE AN INDEPENDENT STATE. THE CONSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS UNDER WHICH HONG KONG OPERATES WILL CHANGE AS FROM JULY 1, 1997."
MR CHEN SAID, SECOND! (. HONG KONG WOULD BECOME A SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION OF CHINA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS OF THE JOINT DECLARATION. "JUST AS THE LETTERS PATENT HAVE PROVIDED THE AUTHORITY FOR HONG KONG TO BE GOVERNED BY THE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION, THE BASIC LAW WILL PROVIDE THE GOVERNMENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE SAR, HE SAID.
+
WE
"IT IS CLEAR THEREFORE THAT WHATEVER CHANGES
MAY WISH ΤΟ BRING WITHIN THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT SYSTEM, THEY MUST HAVE DUE REGARD TO WHAT MAY BE PROVIDED IN THE BASIC LAW,
it HE ADDED.
MR CHEN POINTED OUT THAT THE STATED PURPOSE OF THE 1987 REVIEW WAS TO CONSIDER WHETHER THE SYSTEM OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG SHOULD BE FURTHER DEVELOPED.
IN CONSIDERING THIS QUESTION, HE SAID ONE MUST BEAR IN MIND THAT THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT WAS COMMITTED ΤΟ MAINTAIN HONG KONG'S PROSPERITY AND STABILITY AND TO ENSURE A SMOOTH TRANSFER OF GOVERNMENT IN 1997.
A
"PERHAPS THE BEST WAY TO ADDRESS THIS QUESTION IS TO CONDUCT BRIEF APPRAISAL ON THE EXISTING SYSTEM TO SEE HOW IT HAS BEEN WORKING TO SUSTAIN HONG KONG'S PROSPERITY AND STABILITY," HE SUGGESTED.
MR CHEN SAID HONG KONG'S ASTONISHING GROWTH IN RECENT YEARS HAD BEEN REGARDED BY MANY AS NO LESS THAN AN ECONOMIC MIRACLE. FEW WOULD NOT CONCEDE THAT APART FROM ITS ENTERPRISING ENTREPRENEURS AND RESILIENT WORK FORCE, HONG KONG OWED ITS REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT ΤΟ A STABLE AND EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT SYSTEM THAT HAD BEEN RELATIVELY FREE FROM THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF POLITICS, AND WITHIN WHICH THE ADMINISTRATION WAS ABLE TO CONCENTRATE ON DOING A GOOD JOB OF ADMINISTERING THE TERRITORY WITH THE BEST INTEREST OF THE COMMUNITY IN MIND.
HE SAID IN TERMS OF STABILITY AND EFFICIENCY THE EXISTING SYSTEM APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN WORKING WELL. IT HAD THE FLEXIBILITY REQUIRED TO ENABLE PEOPLE FROM ALL STRATA OF THE COMMUNITY TO PARTICIPATE, THROUGH DIFFERENT MEANS AND IN DIFFERENT FORUMS, IN THE FORMULATION OF POLICIES WHICH AFFECTED THE LIVES OF ALL IN HONG KONG.
HE SAID: "THROUGH AN APPOINTMENT SYSTEM, CANDIDATES WITH DIFFERENT SOCIAL BACKGROUNDS ARE APPOINTED TO BODIES AT DISTRICT, REGIONAL AND CENTRAL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT OF WHICH THIS COUNCIL A PART.
FORMS
"AS FAR