—
· 1 ·
Governor visits the United States
The Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, today (Monday, May 6, New York time) completed the New York leg of his visit to North America with a speech to the National Committee on US-China Relations at Manhattan's Plaza Hotel.
Addressing an audience of over 400 members of the New York business and professional communities, Mr Patten said there were two things which the international business community should speak up for above all else to help ensure that the economic and political freedoms survive in Hong Kong.
"First, it's imperative that Hong Kong continues, as promised, to run its own affairs and to run them in the same successful way that it's done for decades: low taxes, sensible macro-economic policy, level playing field for business, and no politicisation of the award of franchises and contracts," he said.
"Secondly, I hope the international business community and the local business community will underline the importance of the rule of law to Hong Kong's economic success and continuing prosperity."
He stressed it was important for Hong Kong's economic success that the territory continued to have independent courts and that the Government was subject to, and the people were able to depend on, the rule of law.
Mr Patten also said it was important to the success of Hong Kong in future that the rest of the world stayed interested in its affairs.
The reasons this interest should continue included America's huge economic stake in the territory, and the fact that Hong Kong was "the best possible bridge between China and the rest of the world", he said.
"And finally," he told his audience, "I hope you'll stay interested because Hong Kong is the sort of place, I would argue, that America would like Asia as a whole to be: open markets, rule of law, economic freedom and political liberty - all together in a remarkably successful community."
Mr Patten said two ways that the American community could show its ongoing interest in Hong Kong's continuing success were through not applying conditions to MFN and by not allowing Hong Kong to be swallowed up in the greater issue of the United States overall relationship with China.