TNAG-1341-FCO40-17721-Visit-by-Margaret-Thatcher--UK-Prime-Minister--to-Beijing-fo-1985 — Page 104

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My second point is that you have my absolute

assurance that Britain will administer Hong Kong wisely and

well between now and 1997. We shall honour our obligations

to the full.

My third point is that Britain will not merely do

all in its power to work for Hong Kong's steady development

and a smooth transition; we shall also seek to win the

widest possible acceptance of the Agreement in the rest of

the world.

We start this exercise under very favourable

circumstances.

The Agreement has already won high praise

from many leading nations in the world. The Agreement is

regarded as a good one by the overwhelming majority of the

people of Hong Kong, and the British Government are firmly

committed to carrying out the Agreement to the full; so too,

are the Chinese Government, and that is the assurance which

Chairman Deng Xiaoping and Premier Zhao Ziyang gave me during

my discussions on Wednesday.

Of course, there are people here who have concerns

about the Agreement, and many of them are reflected in the

careful report prepared by the Assessment Office. I

understand these concerns and they will be very much in our

minds as we start the process of implementing the Agreement.

Nevertheless, this is a good Agreement; good for Hong Kong

and for its future, and it is now up to all of us together

to make sure that it works.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your questions!