TNAG-1310-FCO40-1667-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1984 — Page 207

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 14 March 1984

The Legislative Council's Role

I have just pointed out that public opinion must play an extremely imp part in deciding Hong Kong's future.

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The Legislative Council has always been responsible for the law-making procedure in Hong Kong. Although its members are not elected by the people, it can at least reflect public opinion. The Legislative Council should therefore play an active part in determining the future of Hong Kong, by encouraging and assisting the citizens to study and discuss the question, so as to look for proposals that meet the needs of Hong Kong people and, at the same time, are acceptable to both China and Britain.

Sir, with these remarks, I fully support the motion.

MR. LO: Sir, what Members of this Council are seeking through this motion is adequate time to debate the agreement to be made by the United Kingdom and Chinese Governments on the future of Hong Kong before it is set in concrete. I think this is a perfectly modest demand. I remember, for example, that the debate in the United Kingdom as to whether or not it should be a member of the European Economic Community took six years and straddled two Govern- ments. I am not suggesting that we should take as long as that, but I do consider that any appearance of rushing an agreement through will psychologically damage the credibility of the U.K. Government even if the agreement itself is actually quite reasonable. That would be a pity because I believe that it is going to be reasonable and given time will be accepted by the people of Hong Kong. As I have said once before, it does no one any good to make unacceptable arrangements.

The Peking Communique, Sir, stressed stability and prosperity. I believe that given a chance and particularly the individual freedoms to which we have become accustomed we will be able to work hard and keep this territory stable and prosperous. However, Hong Kong people do need time to study the proposed agreement to express their views as to whether it will preserve those freedoms and give them that chance.

I support the motion.

MR. TIEN: Sir, the future, said one writer, is a fiction of the mind and it is to the future that I wish to turn. Of course, my Unofficial Colleagues will cover many other issues, it is to TRADE, however, about which I will speak.

There are THREE issues on which I would like to focus our attention. These are, firstly, Hong Kong's autonomy in its trading links, secondly, Hong Kong's problem on its textile quotas, and thirdly Hong Kong's image as a supplier of goods of high quality.

As regards No. 1, the issue of autonomy I put the question: How can we retain this autonomy in trade negotiations and direct access to our trading partners after 1997?