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A summary of Chinese Press reports on May 13, 1981 on a speech by Mr. Ho Sai-chu
on Hong Kong's future.
The time has now arrived for the British and the Chinese Governments to give a concrete guarantee on Hong Kong's future, the papers reported on May 13, quoting the president of the Hong Kong Building Contractors' Association, Mr. Ho Sai-chu.
Speaking at a Y's Men's Club of Peninsula dinner meeting on the previous evening, Mr. Ho suggested that the guarantee could take the form of a joint communique stating that China would give notice of 20 years or more before taking back Hong Kong.
He noted that investors as well as people in banking and financial circles needed. "something concrete" to make long-term plans.
Mr. Ho emphasised that Hong Kong's future would depend largely on whether the territory would continue to prosper and remain stable. "China's modernisation programme will take decades to complete, and Hong Kong will play the major role of a good partner for a long time to come," Wah Kiu Yat Po and Wen Wei Po quoted him as saying.
Local residents should not be unduly worried about 1997 because China had never recognised the New Territories lease, Mr. Ho said. To support his argument, he cited the Shenzhen special economic zone programme as a "good sign" for Hong Kong's prospects, the Oriental Daily News reported.
Should one day China overtake Hong Kong in economic development and living standards, the country would probably take back Hong Kong which would then be no longer important to China, Mr. Ho explained. According to Ming Pao, Mr. Ho envisaged that industrial diversification would help Hong Kong maintain its leading position and, therefore, its status quo.
The Chinese and the Hong Kong Governments could do a lot more to put people's hearts at ease, Mr. Ho observed. For instance, China should speed up development of the Shenzhen special economic zone and make public the development plan for the municipality. At present, Shenzhen's piecemeal approach to problems relating to the road network, water and electricity supplies and drainage systems only gave people an impression that China was reluctant to inject capital in the programme, which could affirm Hong Kong's contributions to the nation's modernisation drive, he said.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Government should launch more public projects, such as the public housing and Home Ownership schemes, and make available more land for industrial development in order to boost public confidence in Hong Kong's future, Mr. Ho added.
Ming Pao and the Oriental Daily News said Mr. Ho expected that land premiums for sites north of Boundary Street would pose a problem for the Government if Hong Kong's status remained unchanged after 1997. Nevertheless, he was confident that an agreement could be worked out between the Chinese and the British Governments, Ming Pao said.
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