XN000022-1992-10-23 — Page 2

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1992

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SPEECH BY THE GOVERNOR, THE RT HON CHRISTOPHER

AT THE FREEDOM FORUM DINNER HELD IN

THE REGENT HOTEL TODAY (FRIDAY)

PATTEN,

CHAIRMAN, THAT'S THE FIRST TIME I'VE BEEN TALLER THAN

MY PREDECESSOR FOR MANY YEARS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED.

―

ME

AS

I WAS IMMENSELY GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR DESCRIBING THE MAIN NEWS STORY OF THE WEEK. NORMALLY, THAT ACCOLADE GOES TO MY DAUGHTERS. I WAS ALSO GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR REFERRING TO MY PAST, AND IN PARTICULAR TO THE ACCIDENTAL WAY THAT I GOT INTO POLITICS VIA THE CAMPAIGN OF JOHN LINDSAY IN 1965, IN NEW YORK, WHICH SAVED ME FROM THE BBC, OR THE BBC FROM ME. I ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT MY MAIN JOB IN THAT CAMPAIGN WAS TO COVER THE CONSERVATIVE - THOUGH I SAY VERY QUICKLY, IT'S NOT THE SAME AS A BRITISH CONSERVATIVE

THE CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE IN NEW YORK, MR WILLIAM BUCKLEY. AND BUCKLEY OFFERED, I THINK,

DURING THAT CAMPAIGN, ALMOST THE BEST ADVICE I'VE EVER HEARD FOR A WINNER IN AN ELECTION. ASKED, DURING THE CAMPAIGN, WHAT HE WOULD DO, IMPROBABLY, IF HE WERE TO WIN AND BECOME MAYOR OF NEW YORK, HE REPLIED, QUICK AS A PLASH: 'I'D DEMAND A RECOUNT. WAS MY INTRODUCTION TO POLITICS, AND I GUESS INDIRECTLY, STAND IN FRONT OF YOU THIS EVENING.

**

ANYWAY, THAT IS WHY I

I WAS ALSO VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE TRIBUTES THAT YOU READ OUT, PARTICULARLY THE TRIBUTE FROM THE NEW CHINA NEWS AGENCY. I HAVE ΤΟ SAY THAT THE DAY THAT SOMETHING FROM THE NEW CHINA NEWS AGENCY ABOUT ME SOUNDS FLATTERING, WILL BE THE DAY WHEN I START TO WORRY A LITTLE BIT. BUT MAYBE THINGS WILL GET BETTER AND MAYBE THINGS WILL IMPROVE, AND MAYBE ONE DAY I'LL ENJOY AN ENCOMIUM FROM THAT BASTION OF A FREE PRESS.

IF ANY OF YOU HAVE READ THE NEWSPAPERS, OR WATCHED THE TELEVISION OR LISTENED TO THE RADIO IN THE LAST FEW DAYS, YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT I'VE BEEN IN PEKING. MY MAIN PURPOSE IN PEKING WAS ΤΟ SET OUT FOR CHINESE OFFICIALS, AND TO DISCUSS WITH CHINESE OFFICIALS, MY PROPOSALS FOR SAFEGUARDING THE PROSPERITY, THE STABILITY, THE WAY OF LIFE, THE HUMAN RIGHTS, OF HONG KONG, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER 1997.

HONG KONG IS OFTEN SPOKEN OF IN INTENSELY MATERIALISTIC TERMS, AND MAYBE THAT'S NOT ALTOGETHER SURPRISING. HONG KONG IS ONE OF THE GREATEST, ONE OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR, ECONOMIC SUCCESS STORIES IN THE LAST CENTURY. THIS IS A COMMUNITY WHICH HAS PULLED ITSELF UP BY ITS OWN BOOTSTRAPS IN THE LAST 40 OR 50 YEARS, SO THAT TODAY, IN TERMS OF TRADE WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD, THIS IS THE TENTH MOST IMPORTANT COMMUNITY GOING. IF WE CAST OURSELVES FORWARD то 1997. THEN WE SEE OURSELVES OVERTAKING LARGE NUMBERS OF THE OECD, BOTH IN TERMS OF OUR INCOME PER HEAD AND IN TERMS OF OUR TRADING COMPETITIVENESS.

IT'S A COMMUNITY WHICH WILL HAVE A KEY ROLE IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ASIA IN GENERAL, AND CHINA IN PARTICULAR. I DON'T THINK IT'S AN EXAGGERATION TO SEE HONG KONG PLAYING, IN RELATION TO THE CHINESE CENTURY, THE SAME SORT OF ROLE THAT NEW YORK PLAYED IN RELATION TO THE AMERICAN CENTURY. I THINK WE HAVE THAT SORT OF ROLE AS A TRIGGER OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE SURROUNDING AREAS.

/AS AN