XN000022-1984-10-18 — Page 2

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1994

SUFFICIENT DETAILS PROVIDED FOR HK'S SYSTEMS

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SIR PHILIP

THE SINO-BRITISH DRAFT AGREEMENT PROVIDED IN SUFFICIENT DETAIL AND IN FAMILIAR LANGUAGE FOR CONTINUITY OF HONG KONG'S SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL, MONETARY, LEGAL, JUDICIAL AND OTHER SYSTEMS, THE CHIEF SECRETARY, THE HON SIR PHILIP HADDON-CAVE, SAID IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY.

SPEAKING IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION ON THE DRAFT AGREEMENT, SIR PHILIP SAID, AND IT CONTAINS A BINDING COMMITMENT ON THE PART OF BOTH THE BRITISH AND CHINESE GOVERNMENTS TO IMPLEMENT ALL THE PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT.

THE GREAT MAJORITY OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCILLORS HAD SEEN THE AGREEMENT IN THIS LIGHT, HE SAID, ADDING THAT RESERVATIONS HAD BEEN EXPRESSED ABOUT PARTICULAR POINTS AND THIS WAS ENTIRELY NATURAL.

+AS YOU, SIR, HAVE RECOGNISED, IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE AN AGREEMENT WHICH WAS REGARDED AS COMPLETELY SATISFACTORY BY ALL THOSE WHOM IT AFFECTS, HE SAID.

SIR PHILIP SAID HE RESPECTED THE HON JOHN SWAINE'S AND THE HON K.C. CHAN'S PROFOUND SINCERITY IN CONCLUDING THAT THE IR RESERVATIONS WERE SUCH THAT THEY COULD NOT COMMEND THE DRAFT AGREEMENT.

+BUT I CANNOT AGREE WITH MR SWAINE THAT THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT DID NOT DO EVERYTHING IN THE IR POWER FOR HONG KONG DURING THE COURSE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS.

THE

+THOSE NEGOTIATIONS WERE PROTRACTED AND INTENSIVE. BRITISH GOVERNMENT'S COMMITMENT TO THEM, AND TO THE TASK OF ACHIEVING THE BEST POSSIBLE SET OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR HONG KONG, IS AMPLY DEMONSTRATED BY THE CLOSE PERSONAL ATTENTION WHICH THE PRIME MINISTER, THE SECRETARY OF STATE AND OTHER MINISTERS DEVOTED TO THE TALKS AT EVERY STAGE DURING THE PAST TWO YEARS.

+ THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT'S EFFORTS ON HONG KONG'S BEHALF WERE FULLY RECOGNISED BY EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, AS EVIDENCED BY THE IR ADVICE THAT THE DRAFT AGREEMENT SHOULD BE INITIALLED AND COMMENDED TO THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG,+ SIR PHILIP SAID.

ON THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT'S CONCEPT OF ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS+, HE CONCEDED THIS WAS A UNIQUE AND UNTRIED+ CONCEPT.

J

+BUT, AS MR PETER WONG ARGUED, THE UNTRIED IS NOT NECESSARILY UNRELIABLE AND, AS MR S.L. CHEN SAID, THE CONVICTION AND COMMITMENT OF THE CHINESE LEADERSHIP TO THIS CONCEPT IS, IN ITSELF, GROUNDS FOR CONFIDENCE.

+HONG KONG IS A UNIQUE PLACE WHOSE SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND GROWTH MOMENTUM ARE PRODUCTS OF A UNIQUE COMBINATION OF CIRCUMSTANCES.

/+IT IS ****