XN000022-1997-04-07 — Page 5

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China will keep its promises set out in Basic Law: Acting CS

The Acting Chief Secretary, Mr Donald Tsang, said today (Monday) that all key ingredients to Hong Kong's economic success now were all guaranteed from July 1 and beyond in the Basic Law, and he believed that China would keep the promises set out in it.

Mr Tsang was speaking at the Harvard Business School Alumni Conference on "Greater China: Myths, Realities, Opportunities".

He said the reason for his faith in the Basic Law was that the Law was drafted by the Chinese Government over a period of five years with the participation of a whole range of Hong Kong people.

"The promises it contains are not new requirements. They are based on Hong Kong's way of life now. They enshrine in law our current formula for what makes Hong Kong special - economically, financially, politically and in day to day life," he said.

"The Chinese Government created this blueprint for the Special Administrative Region of China because it could see how successful Hong Kong is today and they want it to be just as successful, and indeed more so, tomorrow.

"Hong Kong's continuing success will become a point of China's national honour. Why then should China risk that success by going back on its promises? I do not believe China will," Mr Tsang said.

He quoted in full Article 5 of the Basic Law to rebut the myth that Hong Kong's autonomy, particularly its economic autonomy, would be diminished and its way of life would be changed.

The article states that "the socialist system and policies shall not be practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the previous capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years".

"This is the overall pledge. But underpinning it are the many separate guarantees which sum up the way Hong Kong works now and will work in the future," he added.

Rebutting the other five myths, Mr Tsang said the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law promise that the common law and other existing laws shall be maintained, which mean that the rule of law will prevail after 1997.