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The HK Daily News said neither London nor Beijing would be interested in allowing HK to practise full democracy under the "HK people running HK" proposition. The basic principle required to implement this proposal was that there should be an acceptable legal system which could be enforced effectively. It believed that should the District Boards operate satisfactorily, the Government would introduce more democratic changes.
Ming Pao Evening News said in a leader that the status quo in HK could be maintained only if the present legal system remained intact. The paper doubted whether HK's present status could continue once China applied its Constitution here because it did not make any provisions for a free society.
In the left-wing press, the New Evening Post stressed that national pride and sovereignty should take precedence over all other considerations. People who thought otherwise should learn more about China. A Ta Kung Pao commentator said the maintenance of HK's legal system and stability would attract more foreign investment. HK would continue to prosper on reunfication with the motherland. Another commentary in the column "Readers Forum" urged the Government to adopt an open and flexible economic policy and to promote financial activities. It should launch more public works projects, improve facilities for commerce and industry and the education system.
A further commentary in the same column said that the size of loans arranged through HK for other territories had grown by 500 times over the past 13 years to US$16 900 million in December 1982. At the end of last year, 60 per cent of the banking industry's assets and 62 percent of its liabilities were in foreign currencies. These figures showed that HK had become an international financial centre. The two underlying factors in HK's emergence as an international financial centre were a free economy and a sound legal system. The performance of the HK Bank and the Chartered Bank, which ranked 24th and 47th respectively among the world's largest banks, had won the trust of both local and foreign investors. To maintain HK's prosperity on reversion of sovereignty to China, HK's currency must remain unchanged.
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BUSINESSMEN'S VIEWS:
Mr. David Rockefeller: The chairman of the international advisory committee of Chase Manhattan Bank, Mr. David Rockefeller, believes that the Chinese and the British Governments will reach a settlement on Hong Kong's future which will safeguard the interests of investors. During a visit, Mr. Rockefeller said the bank would further expand its investment here because of its confidence in Hong Kong's future.
Mr. Fung King-hey: Chairman of Sun Hung Kai Securities, Mr. Fung King-hey, said on 28 March that Hong Kong would evolve as a self-governing, internationally renowned territory under Chinese sovereignty with its current lifestyle remaining unchanged. Speaking at the opening of the new Asian headquarters of Stanford Research Institute in Tokyo, Mr. Fung said the territory would retain its free currency system and that residents holding passports and other identity papers would continue to enjoy the right of unrestricted travel.
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