TNAG-1749-FCO40-2468-Visit-by-Sir-Geoffrey-Howe--Secretary-of-State-for-Foreign-a-1988 — Page 26

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Those who read the daily headlines in

the press, whether here or in London,

could be forgiven at times for missing

that wider picture.

- Sometimes the picture is painted of a

Hong Kong quaking in its boots, starting

at every sound, fearful to face the

future.

- I think it is worth casting one's mind

back to the Hong Kong of 1983 when I

first became Foreign Secretary.

At that

time the future contained only one

certainty: that under the lease more

than 90% of Hong Kong would revert to

China in 1997.

- It's not a picture which I readily

recognise, looking around me here.

We have made huge progress since then.

The Joint Declaration was hailed byn the

world's press as a major achievement.

Commentaries were bullish, and with

justification.

The agreement took Deng

Xiaoping's imaginative concept of two

systems within one country and gave it

detailed and practical expression.