XN000022-1984-09-26 — Page 13

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DAILY INFORMATION BULLETIN-SUPPLEMENT

ISSUED BY GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICES BEACONSFIELD HOUSE, HONG KONG TEL 5-233191

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1984

SIR GEOFFREY HOWE SPEAKS ON DRAFT AGREEMENT IN NEW YORK

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FOLLOWING IS THE STATEMENT BY SIR GEOFFREY HOWE, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS, AT A PRESS CONFERENCE HELD IN NEW YORK THIS (WEDNESDAY) MORNING (NEW YORK TIME) ON THE DRAFT AGREEMENT ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG:

+THE AGREEMENT WHICH THE BRITISH AND CHINESE GOVERNMENTS HAVE PUBLISHED TODAY IN LONDON, PEKING AND HONG KONG IS AN HISTORIC AND REMARKABLE ONE. IT SETS OUT, IN CONSIDERABLE DETAIL, THE FRAMEWORK IN WHICH A COMPLEX AND SOPHISTICATED COMMUNITY OF FIVE AND HALF MILLION PEOPLE WILL LIVE AND WORK UNDER CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY IN THE 50 YEARS UP TO THE YEAR 2047. MUCH OF THE IMPORTANCE - AND INDEED MUCH OF THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE AGREEMENT LIES IN ITS DETAIL AND MUCH OF THE DEBATE IN THE WEEKS TO COME - ESPECIALLY IN HONG KONG - WILL RIGHTLY FOCUS ON THE DETAILS. TODAY IS NOT THE DAY FOR THAT THE AGREEMENT AS A WHOLE.

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IT IS FOR READING AND UNDERSTANDING

+SO I DO NOT PROPOSE TO SUMMARISE OR DESCRIBE THE AGREEMENT. TO BE UNDERSTOOD IT NEEDS TO BE READ IN FULL. I WANT INSTEAD TO UNDERLINE FIVE POINTS:

FIRST. THE AIM WHICH HAS GUIDED THE BRITISH AND CHINESE NEGOTIATORS IS THE MAINTENANCE OF THE STABILITY AND PROSPERITY OF HONG KONG. THE AGREEMENT PROVIDES FOR A VERY HIGH DEGREE OF CONTINUITY AND AUTONOMY. IT ENSHRINES THE IMAGINATIVE CONCEPT OF ONE COUNTRY. TWO SYSTEMS”. HONG KONG'S DISTINCTIVE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SYSTEMS AND LIFESTYLE - SO DIFFERENT FROM THOSE IN THE MAINLAND OF CHINA - WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED. THESE ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS WHICH HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO HONG KONG'S SUCCESS IN THE PAST. THEIR PRESERVATION IS THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE HONG KONG'S CONTINUED SUCCESS IN THE YEARS UP TO AND BEYOND 1997. FOR A UNIQUE SOCIETY UNIQUE ARRANGEMENTS HAVE BEEN WORKED OUT.

SECOND, WE