XN000022-1984-07-11 — Page 12

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1984

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+ON A LESS CONCEPTUAL NOTE, AS A PRACTICAL STEP TOWARDS DISMANTLING THE BARRIERS OF MISTRUST, BELIEVE THAT IT WOULD BE HELPFUL AND USEFUL IF THE LEADERS OF CHINA CAN BE PERSUADED TO PAY VISITS TO HONG KONG, HE SAID.

+SUCH VISITS CERTAINLY WILL PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENABLE CHINA'S LEADERS TO OBTAIN FIRST HAND IMPRESSIONS ABOUT HONG KONG.

+IT WILL ALSO PROVIDE MORE PEOPLE IN HONG KONG AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET AND TALK TO THE LEADERS OF CHINA,+ HE SAID.

TURNING TO THE ISSUE OF THE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS, HE SAID HE WAS OF THE VIEW THAT ITS CONTINUED WELL BEING FROM NOW TO 1997 AND BEYOND WAS THE MOST VITAL KEY TO OUR FUTURE.

+THIS IS ALSO THE KEY UPON WHICH THE FUTURE SUCCESSES OF THE ONE COUNTRY TWO SYSTEMS CONCEPT HINGES ON, HE ADDED.

HE POINTED OUT THAT TO SECURE THE FUTURE WELL BEING OF HONG KONG, THERE MUST BE A FRAMEWORK WHEREBY HONG KONG WOULD BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN ALL ITS PRESENT AUTONOMY IN THE HANDLING OF EXTERNAL COMMERCIAL RELATIONS.

HE FELT THAT HONG KONG MUST BE GIVEN THE AUTHORITY TO PARTICIPATE INDEPENDENTLY IN GATT, MFA AND ALL THE RELATED ORGANISATIONS AND MUST BE GIVEN COMPLETE AUTONOMY TO NEGOTIATE BE SIGNATORY TO AND TO IMPLEMENT ANY MULTI-LATERAL OR BILATERAL TRADE RELATED AGREEMENTS WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD.

+SUCH A FRAMEWORK NEEDS TO BE SPELT OUT CLEARLY AND IN DETAIL IN THE FUTURE SINO-BRITISH AGREEMENT AND THE AGREEMENT MUST CONFIRM THAT HONG KONG WOULD BE GIVEN FULL AUTONOMY TO OPERATE WITHIN SUCH FRAMEWORK, + HE SAID.

THE REASON FOR SPELLING IT OUT CLEARLY AND IN DETAIL WAS NOT SIMPLY TO GIVE A POSITIVE SIGNAL TO THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY IN HONG KONG. IT IS NECESSARY BECAUSE IT WILL NOT BE ENOUGH FOR EITHER BRITAIN OR CHINA OR BOTH TO SIMPLY PROCLAIM TO THE WORLD THAT HONG KONG HAS BEEN GIVEN SUCH AUTONOMY.

+OTHER TRADING PARTNERS MUST BE PERSUADED TO ACCEPT HONG KONG'S AUTHORITY IN SUCH MATTERS AS WE ARE NOW BEING SO ACCEPTED,+ HE SAID.

APART FROM OUR VITAL INDEPENDENT LINK WITH GATT, HE SAID THE AGREEMENT MUST ENSURE THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN OUR STATUS IN OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS SUCH AS THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK, THE ASIAN PRODUCTIVITY ORGANISATION AND THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION FOR THEY TOO HAD AN IMPORTANT BEARING ON THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR ECONOMY.

HE SAID THAT LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, THE AGREEMENT MUST GIVE HONG KONG THE AUTONOMY AND AUTHORITY TO ENABLE IT TO CONTINUE THE CLOSE WORK ING RELATIONSHIP WITH DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WE HAD DEVELOPE OVER THE YEARS REGARDING A NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE ISSUES.

/+THIS IS