XN000022-1989-06-30 — Page 5

4

FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1989

IT

ANXIETIES:

WAS

JUST AS MUCH WHAT HAD COME LATER THAT HAD CREATED THE DAILY REPORTS OF REPRISALS, THE BLATANT USE OF PROPAGANDA IN PLACE OF TRUTH, THE CALLS FOR CITIZENS TO REPORT THEIR NEIGHBOURS, THE INDOCTRINATION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN, THE EASE WITH WHICH DISSENT HAD BEEN STILLED BY FEAR, SHE SAID.

SHE BELIEVED THAT WHAT WAS WANTED NOW FROM BRITAIN WERE NOT WORDS BUT SOME FAR-REACHING MEASURES THAT WOULD PUT NEW HEART INTO HONG KONG PEOPLE, BOOST THEIR CONFIDENCE AND TRANSFORM THE SITUATION.

"BRITAIN MUST MAKE PEOPLE HERE BELIEVE THAT THEIR FUTURE IS SECURE BECAUSE BRITAIN IS DETERMINED TO MAKE IT So,' SHE SAID.

門

OMELCO WAS DETERMINED TO SEE THIS THROUGH BECAUSE OMELCO MEMBERS BELIEVED THAT THE RESTORATION OF A RIGHT OF ABODE IN BRITAIN WAS THE SUREST AND THE EASIEST WAY FOR BRITAIN AT A STROKE TO BOOST THE CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG SO THAT THEY WOULD HAVE FAITH IN THEIR FUTURE HERE AND THE WILL TO WORK FOR IT, SHE SAID.

SHE REMARKED THAT APART FROM LUNATICS, CONDEMNED PRISONERS AND SMALL CHILDREN, HONG KONG PEOPLE MUST BE THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO SEEMED TO HAVE NO RIGHT TO DECIDE THEIR OWN FATE.

SHE SAID THAT DURING THE HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATE, AS SHE LISTENED то THE ELEGANT PHRASES OF PATRICIAN VOICES IN THE PALACE OF WESTMINISTER PHILOSOPHISING, AT TIMES PONTIFICATING ON HONG KONG'S PRESENT AND FUTURE NEEDS, SHE FELT A SENSE OF HUMILIATION THAT HONG KONG PEOPLE'S FUTURE AND THEIR FATE SHOULD BE DECIDED BY A PARLIAMENT IN WHICH HONG KONG HAD NO REPRESENTATIVE.

"IT IS THERE THAT HONG KONG BRITISH SUBJECTS LOST THEIR RIGHTS OF BRITISH CITIZENSHIP. IT IS THERE THAT THE COMMITMENT WAS MADE то WITHDRAW BRITISH PROTECTION FROM HONG KONG BRITISH SUBJECTS IN 1997. AND IT IS THERE TOO THAT DECISIONS WERE TAKEN IN THE PAST TO ENSURE THAT THE WIND OF CHANGE IN THE SIXTIES DID NOT BLOW THE SEEDS OF DEMOCRACY TO HONG KONG," SHE SAID.

DAME LYDIA REITERATED THAT HONG KONG WAS ONLY LOOKING FOR AN INSURANCE POLICY. "FOR HONG KONG IS OUR HOME. NOBODY INSURES HIS HOME BECAUSE HE THINKS IT WILL BURN DOWN, BUT JUST IN CASE IT SHOULD. AND NO INSURANCE COMPANY WORKS ON THE BASIS THAT EVERY HOME IS BOUND TO BURN DOWN.

SHE ADDED THAT LEAVING ASIDE HONOUR AND CONSTITUTIONAL OBLIGATION, IN WAS ALSO IN BRITAIN'S INTEREST TO SUPPORT HONG KONG,

"SURELY IT IS A MATTER OF PRIDE THAT BRITAIN SHOULD WISH ΤΟ LEAVE HONG KONG IN GOOD SHAPE COME 1997, WITH A COMMUNITY GRADUALLY ASSUMING THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF INTERNAL AUTONOMOUS SELF-GOVERNMENT, SHE SAID.

SHE SAID THAT LIKE MANY IN HONG KONG, SHE SAW A CASE FOR INCREASING THE NUMBER OF DIRECTLY ELECTED SEATS IN 1991, AND SHE ALSO SAW THE CASE FOR A BILL OF RIGHTS.

/BUT IT