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I very much welcome, as I'm sure you do, the important progress made during Mr Rifkind's visit. Britain and China have now reached a written understanding on the arrangements for issuing SAR passports. This was immediately welcomed by a number of other countries and paves the way for foreign immigration authorities to consider their attitude towards the new passport. We hope that the associated question of right of abode can now be quickly settled, and in this connection the experts have had an excellent boost to their work from Vice Premier Qian Qichen's clear assurance to Mr Rifkind that all those who are now permanent residents in Hong Kong would remain so after 1997. The two Foreign Ministers also confirmed agreement to two more Air Service Agreements, bringing the total to 14. And they cleared the political air for a resolution to the problem of Container Terminal Nine, on which we hope that the companies involved can now quickly reach agreement. All of this is good news for Hong Kong.
That makes two successful meetings now between Mr Rifkind and senior Chinese leaders. But there's still a lot of work to do, still much reassurance required, and not much time left. Just over 500 days for Britain, but the same is true for China. And for Hong Kong? Well, we don't count the days, we just think of our future.
I'm sure it would be a great help to him, to us and to China, if Mr Qian Qichen as Chairman of the Preparatory Committee were able to come here and see things for himself. He would get a warm and civilised welcome. A visit from him would, I am sure, be a big boost to confidence.
1995 was a mixed year. Like the curate's egg, good in parts. We had some agreements - for example on the airport and its financing and the Court of Final Appeal - which boosted confidence. But we had some shocks which undermined it, too - on human rights, and on whether Hong Kong should be left alone to run its own affairs and its own welfare services, for instance.
I hope we can put all that behind us, and enjoy a shock-free year, in which our colleagues in China show that they understand Hong Kong, trust Hong Kong, and recognise that there should be a place for everyone in Hong Kong to play a part in its continuing success story, this year, next year, for ever. Recognising that simple fact would probably be the best confidence boost of all.
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