XN000022-1988-05-31 — Page 31

14

TUESDAY, MAY 31, 1988

PHILIP BOWRING: YOU MAY BELIEVE THAT YOUR CRITICS ARE TALKING HOGWASH BUT ARE YOU NOT CONCERNED WHEN A SENIOR MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, AN APPOINTED MEMBER REPRESENTING THE BUSINESS INTERESTS, SHOULD SAY ONLY TWO DAYS AGO THAT THE ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS IS A WONDERFUL CONCEPT TO HELP BRITAIN SAVE FACE? IT IS NOT WORKABLE, DESPITE THE JOINT DECLARATION. YES THEY ARE AND WILL BECOME AN INTEGRAL PART OF CHINA, NOT ONLY IN LEGAL AND TERRITORIAL TERMS BUT IN COMMERCIAL AND SOCIAL TERMS AS WELL.

SIR GEOFFREY : WELL, I THINK THAT VIEW REPRESENTS AN OVER-SIMPLIFICATION OF A PROFOUNDLY MISUNDERSTANDING

KIND. I THINK, WITH RESPECT, THAT IT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE TO REPUDIATE, AND I MAKE NO APOLOGY FOR THE WORD HOGWASH, THE PROPOSITION THAT THERE IS ANY CHOICE WHATSOEVER BETWEEN BRITAIN WANTING TO ACHIEVE THE BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOME FOR HONG KONG AND SEEKING TO ACHIEVE GOOD RELATIONS WITH CHINA. THE TWO GO TOGETHER.

A

AND I THINK THAT MOST OBSERVERS ACKNOWLEDGE THAT TO IDENTIFY FUTURE FOR HONG KONG WITH ITS UNIQUE QUALITIES ALONGSIDE THE WORLD'S LARGEST COMMUNIST SOCIETY IN THE FRAMEWORK OF ONE COUNTRY, TWO SYSTEMS WAS, IS, AND WILL REMAIN A MOST IMAGINATIVE AND MOST IMPORTANT CONCEPT. I THINK THAT IT DOES NO GOOD TO CHALLENGE THAT ON THE GROUNDS OF TOTAL DISBELIEF. I DON'T THINK THAT IS THE VIEW OF MOST PEOPLE IN HONG KONG.

YOU

KATHERINE MA: SIR GEOFFREY, REFERRING TO YOUR SPEECH YESTERDAY, SAID THAT THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT SHOULD HAVE A FULL UNDERSTANDING OF THE VIEWS AND CONCERNS OF THE HONG KONG PEOPLE. SO AT THE END OF THIS TWO-DAY VISIT, CAN YOU TELL US HOW FAR YOU HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE COLLECTIVE MENTALITY OF THIS COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY THE CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE TOWARDS THE PROSPECT OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT? AND I HOPE YOU WILL GIVE SOME EVIDENCE TOO.

SIR GEOFFREY: WELL, I CAN'T CLAIM ON THE STRENGTH OF THE THREE- DAY VISIT TO HONG KONG TO HAVE SOME NEW UNIQUE INSIGHT INTO THE ASPIRATIONS OF PEOPLE OF HONG KONG. WHAT I CAN SAY IS THAT FOR THE WHOLE OF MY FIVE YEARS AS FOREIGN SECRETARY, WITH THE BENEFIT OF ADVICE FROM A TREMENDOUS RANGE OF PEOPLE IN HONG KONG INCLUDING MEMBERS OF EXCO, LEGCO, AND THOSE WHO WRITE ABOUT IT AND TALK ABOUT 1T I DO THINK 1 UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS THAT HAS MADE HONG

+

KONG WHAT IT 19.

I THINK I UNDERSTAND WHAT PEOPLE WANT FOR THE FUTURE. THEY WANT HONG KONG TO CONTINUE WITH THE SAME BASIC POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE THAT HAS MADE IT GREAT IN THE PAST AND MADE IT GREAT

TODAY. I HOPE AND BELIEVE THAT I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PLAY SOME PART, NOT IN ANY SENSE ALONE, IN CONVEYING THE SPIRIT AND THE FLAVOUR OF THAT ΤΟ THE PEOPLE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. CHINA ITSELF HAS BEEN LEARNING AND SEEKING TO LEARN AS MUCH AS IT CAN ABOUT WHAT IT IS THAT MAKES HONG KONG TICK.

/15