TNAG-1238-FCO40-1551-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 45

4.4

The Future

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Hong Kong's long-term importance seems to be assured for at least three reasons: a

strategic geographical position with

respect to China and the Western Pacific; a hardworking and intelligent, well-trained labor force; and an

enlightened administration which gives full

play to individual entrepreneurship within a stable and secure environment. (text, page 3)

Looking to the future, some of these factors such as Hong Kong's geographical location and its place in the global timezone - will obviously not change, irrespective of any other changes in the way Hong Kong may be administered beyond 1997. However, as long as the most important of these elements remain basically unaltered e.g., the legal system, the excellence of communications, the tax system, and the relatively unfettered environment for financial institutions G.T. Management will continue to maintain its Asian headquarters in Hong Kong.

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At G.T. we believe that a broad range of freedom

within a well-established British legal framework is far

superior to a regime of tight controls with a

few artificially-created areas where concessions are

permitted. (Managing Director, G.T. Management (Asia) Ltd. Pag 28)

China certainly wants to increase its stake in Hong Kong, not just from the food it sells and the remittances it receives from immigrants, but also in Hong Kong's business, finance, and property interests. It is investing rather than conquering - as Japan has learned to do since World War II.

Hong Kong

may well be the key and the model in the creation of an East Asia co- prosperity sphere for China. (text, page?)

If one believes in China as a nation with a future, one must also believe in the future of Hong kong. Certainly the Chinese themselves seem to believe

that the future of both are inextricably entwined. (text, post

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China's modernization program can only be built on the confidence of the people and that requires consistency of the government's policies and actions over time. (framed para, page 40)

When a certain state of development is reached in China's Four Modernizations, when the economic development and the standard of living in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou are very close, and when there is less need for Hong Kong as a bridge between East and West, the status of Hong Kong may conceivably be different. But that day is a long way in the future.

Fung King-hey, page 41)

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