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My main purpose in America was to lobby for the unconditional renewal of MFN trading status for China, not putting China's arguments but making the case for Hong Kong. I think it is fair and accurate to say that as a result of my visit, the visit a week or so earlier by Mr. Martin Lee and Dr. Yeung Sum and the visit on which the Chief Secretary has just embarked, the United States will be taking very careful note of Hong Kong's concerns and interests in any decision that is made on MFN. In particular they will be acutely aware that Hong Kong's transition is at a very sensitive phase and that anything which damaged the economy, which a failure to renew MFN would do, would make a successful transition that much more difficult to achieve,
There was, understandably, huge interest in both Canada and the United States in the progress of the transition and in the prospects for Hong Kong's future. There was both a groundswell of goodwill towards Hong Kong, willing it to succeed; and at the same time growing expressions of scepticism about whether it would be able to do so. At meeting after meeting, I was pressed with questions about actions which had been taken by China and by the Preparatory Committee or by statements which had been made by them. Questions about the future of democratic institutions in Hong Kong, the future of the civil service, the future of the rule of law, and the future of the Bill of Rights. Would all these survive? Would they be damaged? Given China's actions, on what basis could I be sanguine about the future?
In response, I expressed my belief that the economy of Hong Kong would remain robust and would continue to grow; that Hong Kong people would continue to show the entrepreneurial skills and determination that had helped to make the territory the economic wonder that it had become; and that these same people would also demonstrate their determination to stand up for their autonomy after 1997, for the rule of law and for the freedoms they had been promised in the Joint Declaration.
I hope I was able to give some reassurance to the people who pressed me with their concerns and doubts. Many of them were businessmen, whose support and confidence Hong Kong will need in the future. Others were simply people who shared with Hong Kong a belief in the same values and civic freedoms and whose ardent hope is that these values and freedoms will remain and prosper here in the future. We cannot let their confidence falter. I hope that China and China's advisers will recognise the fragility of that confidence and seek to bolster it wherever possible through words and actions which underline their commitment to the Joint Declaration and everything it says. For our part, we in Hong Kong must continue to address the concerns of our friends overseas honestly and directly, and make clear that we are committed, fully and wholeheartedly, to Hong Kong's future autonomy and to the continuation of its way of life. I am sure that is something on which all of us here can
agree.
End