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As to the question of treaties, there' in fact is no treaty. If there is no treaty, the question of renewing the terms will not come in. And it is day-dreaming to propose to have sovereignty over HK recovered and yet let the British continue their administration there. We are no babies. We can look after ourselves. Therefore, sovereignty and administrative rights have to be recovered at the same time.
Before the actual recovery of sovereignty, there needs to be a transition period simply because there exists a lot of disparity between the rich and the poor, between people who have reaped benefits and those who have not. Everyone has his own idea, though reality does not always suit everyone's purpose. Strength is the only factor that matters. The only party that has real strength is the Beijing government. Therefore, the question of HK cannot be viewed from the stand of Britain or HK, but rather from that of Beijing.
Say for example, I am the leader of China. I am not free to take decisions on my own personal view. I have to account to the party and the people. The wish of the party or the country cannot be opposed simply because the HK people think otherwise. The population in HK is minimal when compared with that of China. No head of nation would sacrifice the wish of the majority for that of the minority.
In the mind of the Beijing government, the so-called "transition period" means the period up to 1997 and not 30 or 50 years after 1997. This is only the wish of the benefit-reapers in HK. They hope to make use of this period to transfer their money out of HK. Why should the Beijing leadership let these HK people move their money away? The reason they want to have a transition period is to avoid confusion. This will require the co-operation of Britain and China. As a condition, China would try to maintain and safeguard British interests in HK. British co-operation will enable the maintenance of prosperity up to 1997 and assure the HK people. Therefore the purpose of the transition period is to assure the HK people and prevent the outflow of capital. To the Chinese government, the revenue of HK is China's. Under Sino-British co-operation, there is bound to be some form of preventing the outflow of capital, e.g. imposing foreign exchange control. At present, many HK people say that they can transfer their capital elsewhere if they cannot trust the Beijing government in future. Besides, much of HK people's wealth is tied with real estate. If China and Britain work together to level out the price of land, the return from property will be limited. That the price of land has fallen signifies that there is some sort of agreement between Britain and China. The next task is to develop more talents. There are still thirteen years to go. Doctors, lawyers, engineers and government officials are free to go or stay now. If China and Britain begin to foster in the minds of the young people in HK a national sense, they will be ready to take over thirteen years later.
Those who are, in prominent places now will retire thirteen years later.
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