21
TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 1993
No. I hope the NCA are listening, but just in case they
are not, I will say it again, no.
The resumption of Chinese
sovereignty is right for Hong Kong, it is agreed for Hong Kong. The terms of that are agreed in the Joint Declaration. I understand the aspirations of Chinese officials, looking at 1997 perhaps through the prism of the history of the 19th century which they have learned, and I hope those aspirations can be achieved in a way which is wholly in the interests of Hong Kong and is as smooth as possible.
MARK GALL:
I would like to ask the Governor a question relating to the 'great expectations' as opposed to the 'hard times'. He has shared his thoughts with us on the hard times and perhaps we could ask him to expand a little on the expectations of British and other companies who would like to be involved in the economic miracle to which he referred in mainland China and perhaps are considering involvement with Hong Kong- based firms as a cultural bridge into that rapidly expanding market. What advice would he give them in the short and medium-
term?
CHRIS PATTEN: It is a subject with which I am reasonably familiar, because one of my jobs when I was Minister for Overseas Development was to negotiate the last big concessional financing arrangement between Britain and China which has provided the base for the number of British-funded projects in China and which has provided the base for a good deal
of trade between Britain and China. I would like to see that
trade grow.
/AT THE