XN000022-1993-04-06 — Page 3

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TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 1993

Declaration, and that is how I still look at the Joint Declaration today.

There are three things in the Joint Declaration to which I

First of all, the system which it

would like to draw attention.

describes is not, of course, just the capitalist allocation of resources in the economy. The Joint Declaration describes in

terms Hong Kong's way of life and, therefore, Hong Kong's freedoms.

I have to admit that I was a little surprised when, shortly after my appointment, the first controversy broke like a storm around my head. It followed the prime minister's description of the purpose of my appointment as being to help protect Hong Kong's stability, prosperity and freedoms. The Governor of Hong Kong, taking a good brief, used exactly those words himself when he described his objectives. We then, to my surprise, found ourselves being attacked by Chinese officials for using the word 'freedoms'. The Joint Declaration is full, however, of the descriptions of Hong Kong's freedoms and Hong Kong's freedoms are part of Hong Kong's system.

The second thing which stands out from the Joint Declaration is that Hong Kong's prosperity is not something that you set apart from Hong Kong's way of life. It is of course true that Hong Kong's prosperity Helps to sustain its way of life but it is equally true that Hong Kong's way of life and open market economy run within the framework of the rule of law and that that way of life helps to sustain its prosperity.

The relation

between the two is something which we should not lose sight of. Third, the Joint Declaration does not of course describe à

/DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY