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BE THE HONG KONG SIDE, OR THE BRITISH SIDE IN THIS CASE, AND THERE HAS TO BE CHINA. THE LEASE REVERTED TO CHINA IN 1997. NOW IF CHINA HAD BEEN IN A MOOD WHEREBY CHINA WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE AN INDEPENDENT STATE SET UP ON THE SOUTHERN COAST OF CHINA, THEN THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN OPTION. BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAS BEEN VERY, VERY CLEAR ALL ALONG AND I DON'T THINK IT IS SIMPLY
SIMPLY A QUESTION OF THE PRESENT COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT OF CHINA, THIS GOES
THIS GOES WAY BACK BEFORE THE WAR TO THE NATIONALIST GOVERNMENT IS THAT THERE IS NO WISH, ABSOLUTELY NO WISH AND NO INTENTION, OF SEEING ANOTHER SEPARATE CHINA BEING ESTABLISHED ON THE COAST OF THE MAINLAND OF CHINA. SO IF ANYTHING WAS NOT AN OPTION, INDEPENDENCE FOR HONG KONG WAS NOT AN OPTION AND THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS WHICH EVERYBODY, I THINK,
I THINK, IN HONG KONG, OR VIRTUALLY EVERYBODY IN HONG KONG, HAS LONG REALISED THAT WHATEVER THE OPTIONS WERE FOR THE FUTURE, INDEPENDENCE SIMPLY WASN'T AN OPTION. YOU COULDN'T HAVE HAD A 'SINGAPORE-TYPE' SOLUTION. SO WHEN THIS THING WAS LOOKED AT, IT WAS VERY CLEAR INDEED THAT THAT WAS NOT A POSSIBILITY, THAT EITHER ONE TRIED TO HAVE A CONTINUATION OF BRITISH ADMINISTRATION, LET'S SAY UNDER CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY, WHICH WAS WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY TRIED, BUT THAT FAILED BECAUSE CHINA WAS NOT PREPARED TO GO ALONG WITH THAT SORT OF A SOLUTION, OR THE SOLUTION THAT HAS BEEN COME UP WITH, WHICH IS HONG KONG RETURNS TO CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY BUT THE KEY BITS OF WHAT MAKES HONG KONG TICK, WHAT MAKES HONG KONG DIFFERENT FROM THE MAINLAND OF CHINA
BECAUSE WE ARE A QUINTESSENTIALLY CAPITALIST SOCIETY HERE, AND A VERY SUCCESSFUL ONE ALL OF THOSE THINGS WOULD GO ON, BE PROVIDED FOR FOR THE 50 YEARS AFTER 1997 WITH AS MUCH ASSURANCE AS COULD POSSIBLY BE BUILT INTO AN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT. SO THAT IS WHAT THE NEGOTIATORS WENT FOR IN THE END.
OLIVER SCOTT:
WELL, MR GRANT, A PRETTY UNEQUIVOCAL RESPONSE THERE FROM SIR DAVID WILSON. DOES IT COVER THE POINTS YOU RAISED?
CALLER: YES, IT DOES COVER THE POINTS I RAISED, BUT BACK TO THE QUESTION. ISN'T THERE GOING TO BE A PANG OF REGRET THAT HONG KONG IS GOING TO SEVER RELATIONS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH?
OLIVER SCOTT: WELL, SIR DAVID, I CAN SEE THAT MR GRANT IS DETERMINED ON SQUEEZING SOME EMOTION OUT OF YOU ON THAT SCORE.
SIR DAVID: WELL, MR GRANT, IF YOU WANT MY PANG OF REGRET, YOU'VE GOT MY PANG OF REGRET BECAUSE I THINK THE BRITISH ADMINISTRATION OF HONG KONG HAS BEEN A VERY SUCCESSFUL ONE. IT'S SUCCESSFUL IN THE SENSE NOT OF JUST RUNNING EVERY FACET OF WHAT HAPPENS HERE, BECAUSE THAT IS NOT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS, IT IS SUCCESSFUL IN THE SENSE OF HOLDING UP AN UMBRELLA UNDER WHICH THE VERY ENERGETIC PEOPLE OF HONG KONG HAVE THEMSELVES MADE AN ENORMOUS SUCCESS OF HONG KONG. SO, YES, A PANG OF REGRET WHEN THAT PARTICULAR PIECE OF HISTORY COMES TO AN END BUT ONE HAS TO LOOK FORWARDS AS WELL AS NOSTALGICALLY BACKWARDS; ONE HAS TO TRY NOW TO PROVIDE FOR THE NEW HONG KONG, THE HONG KONG THAT IS GOING TO GO INTO THE 20TH CENTURY. I THINK WE ARE NOW IN A PERIOD OF HISTORY WHEN RUNNING DEPENDENT TERRITORIES, EVEN ONE AS SUCCESSFUL AS HONG KONG, IS SOMETHING WHICH IS A BIT OF A HISTORICAL ANACHRONISM. SO NOW WE'RE IN THE BUSINESS OF TRYING TO PROVIDE FOR THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG, ALLOWING ALL THESE TREMENDOUS ENERGIES, THE DYNAMISM OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, TO FLOURISH UNDER NEW AND DIFFERENT ARRANGEMENTS.
OLIVER SCOTT:
WELL MR GRANT, THANKS FOR THE CALL.
AND, SIR DAVID, A