UNCLASSIFIED
VISIT BY MR PETER BLAKER MP TO HONG KONG: 23-25 SEPTEMBER
BRIEF NO. HK4
DRAFT SPEECH FOR LUNCH GIVEN BY HONG KONG GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
I should like to begin by saying what a privilege
it is for me to have been appointed Minister of State in the
new administration with special responsibility for Hong Kong
affairs.
Hong Kong has played an important role in my life
and I am very pleased to be given this opportunity to repay
something of what I owe the territory. Britain of course has
a special responsibility towards Hong Kong and the
Conservative Government are determined to do all they can to
fulfil that responsibility, to defend the interests of Hong
Kong in the world and to pursue the well-being of Hong Kong
people. Having been appointed, I attached great importance
to arranging to re-visit Hong Kong as soon as I could, to
bring myself up-to-date on all that has happened in the six
years since my last visit. I am glad this chance has arisen
so soon and so soon too after Lord Carrington's all to brief
visit in June. The business of government these days ties
Ministers down in London far too much, though happily the
Government now have a big enough majority to be spared the
problems of certain recent British Governments for whom the
absence of a single Minister on Government business could
mean the difference between winning or losing a crucial vote.
How impressed I have been by what I have seen. I
do not need reminding that Hong Kong is a place that does not
stand still I know well that it has never been able to
afford to.
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And I was repeatedly warned in advance that I
/would
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