TNAG-1398-FCO40-1870-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Basic-Law-1985 — Page 139

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A: That I don't think is likely to happen because socialism is

superior to capitalism. Of course, we did not do so well

Q :

in the past and failed to give full play to the superiority of the socialist system.

In my opinion, Deng Xiaoping came up with the "one country, two systems" concept because he had clearly perceived the superiority of capitalism to socialism in the development of productivity. In China, because of the Party's ideology and other factors, there is no alternative but to go on practising socialism. But fearing that Hong Kong would be ruined, he permitted the territory to retain its capitalist system as a means of maintaining economic prosperity. Do

you think this is the case?

A: No, this is not the case. Hong Kong is allowed to retain the

capitalist system mainly because of considerations for its

history and reality, as we put it, "to respect history and

respect reality". The "one country, two systems" policy is conducive to solving the Hong Kong issue. Most important of all, it resolved the question of sovereignty. The British had suggested that sovereignty and administration be dealt

with separately, but we were firmly against the idea. Without

administrative power, where comes sovereignty? This kind of

sovereignty can only be a fake one. We had to resolve the

question of sovereignty and, at the same time, take into

consideration Hong Kong's historical position and actual

circumstances. The "one country, two systems" policy is

conducive to maintaining Hong Kong's prosperity and stability

and to promoting China's four modernizations.

/ In your view