PRESS RELEASE
Royal Visit
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1986
QUEEN IS IMPRESSED BY HONG KONG'S ACHIEVEMENTS
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THE QUEEN TODAY PRAISED THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, WHO, SHE SAID, WITH IMAGINATION AND HARD WORK, HAVE CREATED A UNIQUE CITY AND A UNIQUE SOCIETY: AND THIS HAS EARNED YOU RESPECT AND GOODWILL THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.+
HER MAJESTY WAS SPEAKING AT A WELCOMING CEREMONY IN CITY HALL, SHORTLY AFTER LANDING AT QUEEN'S PIER FROM THE ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA.
SHE SAID SHE HAD LONG LOOKED FORWARD TO RETURNING SINCE HER LAST VISIT IN 1975. RECALLING THAT EARLIER VISIT, SHE SAID TIMES THEN WERE NOT ALTOGETHER EASY FOR HONG KONG.
+HOWEVER,+ SHE CONTINUED, I FELT THE DETERMINATION AND COMMITMENT OF THE PEOPLE AND THE GOVERNMENT TO OVERCOME THOSE DIFFICULTIES, AND TO BUILD A BETTER CITY AND A BETTER SOCIETY.
+NO ONE SAILING INTO HONG KONG HARBOUR, AS I DID THIS MORNING, COULD FAIL TO BE IMPRESSED WITH WHAT THAT DETERMINATION AND THAT COMMITMENT HAVE ACHIEVED.+
THE QUEEN SAID SHE WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING MORE OF THOSE ACHIEVEMENTS AND MEETING AS MANY PEOPLE AS SHE COULD, NOT ONLY IN THE CENTRE OF THE CITY, BUT ALSO IN COMMUNITIES WHICH HAD SPRUNG UP IN OTHER PARTS OF THE TERRITORY SINCE HER LAST VISIT.
HER MAJESTY SAID HER HISTORIC VISIT TO CHINA, THE FIRST BY A BRITISH MONARCH, SYMBOLISED THE NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BRITAIN AND CHINA, A RELATIONSHIP IN WHICH THE AGREEMENT ON HONG KONG'S FUTURE HAD PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT PART.
SHE ADDED: +YOU HAVE BEEN PROMISED IN THAT AGREEMENT THAT INSTITUTIONS, TRADITIONS AND WAY OF LIFE SO IMPORTANT TO THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG WILL BE PRESERVED. THE AGREEMENT, AND THE FIRM COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND CHINA ENSHRINED IN IT WILL, I TRUST, BE AN ASSURANCE AND AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO YOU AS YOU FACE THE CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE.+
/HER MAJESTY
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