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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1990
"WE WOULD BE FAILING IN OUR DUTY IF WE WERE NOT PLANNING TO GO ON IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF THEIR LIVES NOT JUST BEFORE 1997 BUT WELL INTO THE NEXT CENTURY, SIR DAVID SAID.
FI
NOTING THAT IT WAS FASHIONABLE TO TALK IN PESSIMISTIC TERMS ABOUT 1997. SIR DAVID OFFERED THREE PERSONAL REASONS WHY HE WAS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG.
"FIRST, I KNOW HONG KONG TOO WELL.
"THOSE OF US WHO LIVED THROUGH THE DARK DAYS OF 1967, THE ECONOMIC CRISES OF THE 1970'S AND THE TENSE PERIOD OF NEGOTIATIONS OVER THE FUTURE KNOW HOW RESILIENT HONG KONG REALLY IS, +7 HE SAID.
SECONDLY, SIR DAVID SAID, PEOPLE'S LIVES DID NOT SIMPLY STOP
JUST BECAUSE OF A DATE IN THE CALENDAR.
"THERE ARE CHILDREN NOW ENTERING SCHOOL WHO WERE BORN AFTER THE JOINT DECLARATION,
"THERE ARE YOUNG GRADUATES NOW JOINING THE CIVIL SERVICE WHO DO SO WITH THEIR EYES WIDE OPEN.
"THERE ARE BUSINESSMEN PUTTING MONEY INTO HONG KONG AND INTO GUANGDONG WHO ARE SETTING THE PATTERN FOR TRADE AND BUSINESS BETWEEN THESE PLACES FOR THE FUTURE," HE SAID.
THE CHIEF SECRETARY SAID THEY WERE TAKING INTELLIGENT RISKS LIKE BUSINESSMEN ALL OVER THE WORLD AND THEIR HORIZONS EXTENDED BEYOND 1997 AND SO DID THE CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR DECISIONS.
HE SAID.
"THEY,
LIKE THE GOVERNMENT, REFUSE TO LET 1997 BE A BARRIER,
THIRDLY, THE CHIEF SECRETARY SAID, THERE WAS A CERTAIN ARROGANCE ABOUT THE VIEW, WHICH HE DID NOT SHARE, WHICH SAID JUST BECAUSE BRITISH SOVEREIGNTY CAME TO AN END, HONG KONG WOULD GO DOWNHILL.
"IT IS ARROGANT BECAUSE IT IGNORES THE FACT THAT LESS THAN TWO PER CENT OF THE 190,000 PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT ARE BRITISH, AND THAT ALREADY MY CHINESE COLLEAGUES OCCUPY MORE THAN HALF OF THE TOP POSTS AND ARE PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF TAKING OVER THE OTHER HALF IN THE COMING FEW YEARS.
"IT ALSO OVERLOOKS THE FACT THAT THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND LEGAL STRUCTURE WHICH HAS BEEN FUNDAMENTAL TO HONG KONG'S SUCCESS UNDER A BRITISH ADMINISTRATION WILL REMAIN INTACT UNDER CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY, HE SAID.
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IT
HE POINTED OUT THAT IT WAS ALSO AN OUT-OF-DATE VIEW BECAUSE IGNORED THE CHANGES WHICH HAD ALREADY TAKEN PLACE IN HONG KONG'S RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA AND IN PARTICULAR THE ECONOMIC LINKS WITH CHINA'S SOUTHERN PROVINCES, PROVINCES WHICH HAD MADE SUCH GIANT ECONOMIC STRIDES OVER THE PAST DECADE.
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