. 2

When people worry, perhaps, about those problems, I wonder if I might just remind everybody of the problems in the past that seemed insoluble and yet now are behind us. They've been solved. The Court of Final Appeal, airport contracts, a range of other things in the past that were a matter of huge concern at the time but where satisfactory solutions were in the end actually found.

We are going to have to be both persistent and persuasive in our negotiations with China on the problems that remain. We will be so in private and we will express wherever it seems to be of advantage to Hong Kong for us to do so, we will express our views on those matters in public as well.

What I do want to reiterate as an assurance to Hong Kong is that Britain's commitment to Hong Kong and its future is not something that is dribbling away with the 450 or so days that remain. There is a commitment that is very deep, very long standing, and although the legal position may change in June 1997, the practical commitment will not change, the moral imperative will not change, and Britain's interest in Hong Kong, affection for Hong Kong, and trade and commercial relationships with Hong Kong will continue in the future as they have done in the past.

On the occasions I have been able to speak publicly on this trip I have tried to set out - most obviously in the speech at lunch-time today - some reassurance on five points. I will just remind you of them without going through them at any length, I think, again.

Firstly, our long term commitment to Hong Kong both moral and economic.

Secondly, our pledge to pursue every avenue that is open to us if there is to be a breach of the Joint Declaration, including using Britain's influence with the international community to ensure that agreements that were signed are the agreements that are met.

Thirdly, the announcement I made earlier today about visa-free access.

Fourthly, the extra guarantee to the ethnic minorities, the relatively small number of people of Indian and Pakistani ethnic extraction, who fear particular difficulties after 1997.

And fifthly, the commitment I was able to make today to effectively ensure British citizenship for war widows and wives.

Those were the five principal points I have made during this trip.

Share This Page