XN000022-1989-06-15 — Page 2

1

THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1989

HK CAN RISE TO ANY CHALLENGE: SDA

HONG KONG WILL BE ABLE TO RISE TO ANY CHALLENGE BECAUSE OF

AND

OF ITS DETERMINATION

PEOPLE, RESILIENCE, RESOURCEFULNESS SECRETARY FOR DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION, MR DONALD LIAO, SAID TODAY (THURSDAY).

THE

THE

IN TOKYO

MR LIAO WAS COMMENTING ON THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF RECENT ADDRESSED MEMBERS EVENTS IN CHINA ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG WHEN HE OF THE JAPAN/HONG KONG SOCIETY AT A LUNCHEON MEETING.

"IN THE SHORT TERM, CONFIDENCE MAY BE RUFFLED.

KONG HONG

MAY FACE A

ROUGH

RIDE AND

WILL STABILISE AND HONG

TO

FROM RECOVER ABILITY

BUSINESS AS USUAL," HE

"BUT IN THE LONG TERM THE SITUATION

RECORD WITH

AND ITS IMPRESSIVE ADVERSITIES, SHOULD BE ABLE TO CARRY ON ITS

KONG,

SAID.

AND, THE

BRITISH

HONG AND

CONSIDERING URGENTLY WHAT FURTHER STEPS HONG KONG'S WAY OF LIFE AFTER 1997 AS ENSHRINED JOINT DECLARATION.

KONG GOVERNMENTS COULD BE TAKEN

IN THE

NOW

WERE TO PROTECT SINO-BRITISH

THE JOINT

RATIFIED DECLARATION,

ΤΟ CONTRIBUTED FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS WHICH HAVE PROSPERITY OF HONG KONG WOULD BE MAINTAINED.

IN

THE 1985, ENSURES

THE STABILITY AND

FOR THE

NOTED THAT

AND PROCEDURES MR LIAO

THE PROSPECTS IMPLEMENTATION OF THE JOINT DECLARATION WOULD INEVITABLY BE AFFECTED.

"IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO CONTINUE NORMAL BUSINESS OF THE LIAISON GROUP IN THE CURRENTLY CONFUSING SITUATION.

"SOME DELAY IN THE PROGRESS OF WORK IS UNAVOIDABLE,"

JOINT

HE NOTED.

WERE

THE SECOND DRAFT MR LIAO WENT ON TO SAY THAT CONSULTATION ON OF THE BASIC LAW FOR HONG KONG HAD ALSO BEEN SUSPENDED AND THERE SUGGESTIONS TO EXTEND THE DEADLINE FOR CONSULTATION FOR ONE YEAR.

CONSULTATION,

BE A

"THIS DELAY AND EXTENSION OF THE CONSULTATION PERIOD MAY

TIME FOR MORE

A BETTER BLESSING IN ITSELF, AS WITH BASIC LAW MAY BE PRODUCED, MR LIAO SAID.

"

OF THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT MR LIAO, A BRITISH REPRESENTATIVE LIAISON GROUP (JLG), SPOKE HIGHLY OF ITS HARD WORK AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE JOINT DECLARATION.

HONG KONG'S

BEYOND 1997, IN PARTICULAR

"THE JLG RECOGNISED THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING INTERNATIONAL

RELATIONS ECONOMIC SAFEGUARDING HONG KONG'S ABILITY TO TRADE FREELY AND INDEPENDENTLY.

/HONG KONG