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made real progress on a number of issues A GATT membership, travel and identity documents, air services negotiations,
the Hong Kong Shipping Register and so on. Nothing
could be more important for Hong Kong than co-operation between the parties to the Joint Declaration on matters that are essential to our future autonomy and progress.
And, And, again, while so much has been said and written about direct elections, little thought has been given to the sort of direct élections Hong Kong should have. And beyond that, there is still too little discussion of the even more important question of how a fully elected legislature will operate in the future. ^
Nor do I think that the community
has been taking nearly enough interest in the drafting
of the basic law.
law. The people of Hong Kong know better than anyone how Hong Kong works because we live here and make it work. The Basic Law is to be the blueprint
for our capitalist system, pur lifestyle, our freedom in the years to come. We must help the Basic Law Drafting Committee to get it right. And to do that effectively, we need to speak with one voice on the things that really matter.
In the two years while the Joint Declaration was being negotiated,we, as a community, did pull together and did speak with one voice. Our unity gave us strength. The British and Chinese Governments could not ignore our wishes. As a result, the Joint Declaration contains much of what we sought.
But we have not done so well since the Joint Declaration was signed. As a community, we have wasted far too much time and energy in arguing among ourselves, in indulging in introspection, in chasing shadows and
in distrusting our own Government. We must have raised doubts in the minds of many whether we are ready to
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