TNAG-1711-FCO40-2389-Future-British-Consulate-General-in-Hong-Kong-HMS-Tamar-1987 — Page 118

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public sector has been matched by private development,

noticeable in East Tsim Sha Tsui and the Central and

Wanchai Districts.

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The quality of life for the general population

improved greatly over the period, not only in respect of

housing, but in regard to greatly expanded recreational

opportunities, especially at the district level. At the

same time, young people benefitted from the nine years of

compulsory free education introduced in 1974 and the

programme of labour welfare legislation pursued steadily

in the last decade.

These changes had taken effect by the time

Mrs Thatcher visited Beijing in 1982, setting in train the

two-year negotiations wihch led to the Sino-British Draft

Agreement and its ratification six months later. The

terms of the Sino-British Agreement were generally

welcomed, the progress in implementing them is helping to

build up confidence in the future; but it is a slow growth

because of a general distrust of China, fear of

intervention in the Hong Kong Special Administrative

Region's affairs after 1997, or even of China's return to

earlier, less pragmatic policies. Nonetheless, Hong Kong

continues to prosper, and the fact that its people travel

to China and S. E. Asia in large numbers makes them more

than ever aware of Hong Kong's attraction. This is a

positive factor for the future.

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