XN000022-1996-10-04 — Page 17

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15.

And finally, last question. Mr Governor, now you have started a democratic trend in Hong Kong. Of course you would like to know whether we could eventually have universal suffrage in Hong Kong and if that is the case, would you come to Hong Kong and help in the election and help canvassing for instance? Or if you go back to Britain and join the election for the Prime Ministership I promise, as I said, I would help you in that campaign.

Governor: Thank you very much indeed. First of all your analogy. I am sure that senior Chinese leaders wish to win the hearts and minds of people in Hong Kong as well as just accomplish the handover of sovereignty in 1997. They could not, in my judgment, have any other objective. 1997 is an immensely important and patriotic moment in Chinese history. I understand that for many people they see it inevitably as a wiping clean of the slate on which some of the things done by the European imperial powers in China in the 19th century is written. So it is an important time for Chinese leaders and I am sure that they will want to manage Hong Kong so successfully, or rather to allow Hong Kong to manage itself so successfully, that people will regard the handover in 1997 as the beginning of an even more successful and happy chapter in Hong Kong's story. That is my sincere hope.

I know that many people believe that Britain should have provided everyone in Hong Kong with a full British passport which would have enabled them to have the right of abode in the UK if things didn't go as well as they would have liked. I have myself argued that case in Britain and in Hong Kong, and Lord Wilson before me argued that case. We have been criticised in Britain and we have been criticised by Chinese officials for doing so. We have, I think, managed - and it was particularly to the credit of Lord Wilson that he managed this to provide more passports for people from Hong Kong and we have got the British Government, recently, to behave, I think, sensibly and honourably over questions like visa-free access for people from Hong Kong. I am sorry that we haven't accomplished more but I very much hope that the fact that we haven't accomplished more won't ever be a cause for greater condemnation because I hope that things will go well here in Hong Kong.

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Secondly, of course we have to continue to give the fight against corruption a very high priority. I think the whole community supports the ICAC who do an excellent job. I guess it is the only anti-corruption body in the world which is the subject of a popular television programme. They do an outstanding job. They have shown great integrity over the years. And all of us know - all of us know that the moment we lower our guard, the moment we start on that slippery slope to cronyism and corruption again, Hong Kong's success story will start to have big question-marks raised against it.