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UNITED KINGDOM
153.
This year by unfortunate coincidence there were one or two
developments in the U.K. that were disagreeable to Hong Kong. For instance
the increase in university fees and the Nationality Bill still before
Parliament.
But
Your Government put up a stiff fight, and though it had no
success on university fees it had some over the Nationality Bill.
the point I wish to make now is that some here affected to see these
developments as part of a deliberate policy of disengagement by HMG.
I can
only say that they were prompted by purely U.K. considerations totally
unconnected with Hong Kong, that their timing was pure coincidence, and that
most satisfactory assurances of continued U.K. support for Hong Kong were
given.
:
Indeed it is ironic that such intention should have been suspected
of a U.K. Government whose members have been so helpful to Hong Kong and
frequently spoken so warmly of it. I believe that in recent years there has
been a wider understanding in Parliament of Hong Kong, its problems and its
achievements, and this has been due in no small measure not only to the vigour
of successive Hong Kong Commissioners but also to the work of the all-party
Parliamentary group under the Chairmanship of Sir Paul Bryan.
SINO-BRITISH CO-OPERATION
154.
Sino-British relations continue to be excellent in themselves
and over Hong Kong. In Hong Kong the relations of our officials with those
of the Central Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government are friendly,
practical and constructive.. I note with satisfaction the steady development
of economic co-operation between agencies of the Chinese Government and
Hong Kong businessmen in Hong Kong, Guangdong and other parts of China..
I am convinced that at this time the best contribution we can make to our
own future is the fostering of the growing economic links that exist with
our neighbour. These are complementary to our very large economic
interests in other parts of the world.
/CONCLUSION
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