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22 March 1989]
[Mr Rowlands Contd]
THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
RT HON SIR GEOFFREY HOWE, QC, MR ROBIN MCLAREN, CMG, and Mr Alan Paul
direct fashion, by referendum or by direct forms of elections. You are going through a sort of convoluted process to discover what the true wishes of the Hong Kong people are. Is that a fair impression?
(Sir Geoffrey Howe Well, where you use the word "convoluted" use the word "exhaustive”. I think that the process of consultation that took place, for example, after the publication of the Joint Declaration was enormously thorough, using a whole range of means of trying to test opinion, And if you look at the cross-check of all those insights, I think we are getting a pretty accurate response.
Chairman: Could we now turn briefly to our relations with the People's Republic of China and discussions with the Chinese? Mr Temple-Morris.
gives
Mr Temple-Morris
54. Following what our chairman said, could I turn the Foreign Secretary around, as it were, to look at these matters from the Chinese point of view, bearing in mind his discussions with them. To start him off on this could I say on one side of the argument when one looks at the Basic Law there is a tremendous amount in it which the Foreign Secretary has already intimated on occa- sion to us gave every ground for optimism. Indeed, one can even say that the achievements embodied in this are quite formidable, for the Chinese actually to lay down a Basic Law which has checks and balances and elections and all sorts of things that are not exactly that visible in Beijing. So that is one side of it, grounds for optimism. But the other side of it is perhaps, "Goodness gracious me, how are they ever going to live up to this?” There is so much here which carries Hong Kong in the future so far away from what China can possibly hope to become itself and there must be many people in Beijing and elsewhere who might say, or certainly be tempted to say, after 1997, "This goes too far. We are not going to have all these elections and in any event many of the people in Hong Kong are not the least bit interested in elections and we only mustered about 17 per cent in the last municipal election, so against that apathetic back- ground is not this document going too far?" So there are two sides to the question and I am wondering, against that background, how the Foreign Secretary sees Hong Kong in Chinese eyes after 1997?
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) I think the most important feature of Chinese perception of the future of Hong Kong is their powerful wish that it should continue to be successful. One thing that is absolutely clear is their recognition of the dynamic quality of this unique society, and above all they want it to go on like that. That is at the heart of the commitment to stability and prosperity and it was that which inspired Chairman Deng Xiao Ping's initial pres- entation of the "one country, two systems" objec⚫ tive. They recognised that this unique prize had to be kept operating in a unique way, and think, if I may say so, I have told the Committee before informally that I tried to use that insight as a means
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25
[Continued
10 n
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of extending Chinese perception of what was necessary in the Joint Declaration. I presented the picture of a relay race between the original team players of China and ourselves in which the baton was the Ming vase of Hong Kong, that we needed immense skill and sensitivity if we were to effect this transformation and continuity. I think a lot of the work that has been going on in the JLG and in the Basic Law Drafting Committee has been an extended process of shared insights, so that it has been possible to show the Chinese why member- ship of GATT is important; it has been possible to show them why freedom of movement of capital is important, the discussion I had in Peking early In a on with Chinese leaders, in which they derived some comfort from the fact that they had been told by the Japanese Government and the American Government that their companies would go on investing in Hong Kong, and I had to explain that the Ming vase was a magnetic one and that invest- ment would only go on if Hong Kong remained a magnet for the inward flow of capital. That, I think, is reflected in what is there. Since then the Chinese China's very big initial stake in the success of Hong Kong has grown and it is not really-a stake in the econ- omic success of Hong Kong; it is a stake in the sense of the one country, two systems approach, because I am sure the Chinese leaders see that as paving the way for changes in relation to other units as well. If all that is part of their perception of the key to success, if they have seen the extent to which success has been growing upon success, if they accept, as they do quite plainly, the commit- ment of the Joint Declaration to an international agreement which we and they jointly registered at the United Nations, which the Chinese Foreign Minister and I jointly commended to the Security Council of the UN, there is a tremendous commit- ment to the success of what we are engaged in and That again is reflected in the openness of the drafting process. Those are all positive signs.
55. How much is there a linkage, does the Foreign Secretary consider, between the success of Hong Kong after 1997 and future endeavours with other units, which is something he briefly referred to? Is that something you think is very important as far as China is concerned?
(Sir Geoffrey Howe) I think that is a matter really for the Chinese people and the Chinese leadership, But what is clear is that their commitment to the success of the joint endeavour in relation to Hong Kong is very important in itself.
56. Finally, could I ask you about the implemen- tation of the Joint Declaration in Hong Kong and the Chinese role in it. How have the Chinese been and how constructive have they been as far as Hong Kong itself is concerned? We read about their unofficial embassy and their obvious interest in what goes on there. How constructive have they been, and within that question, have they shown any attitude towards political groupings, bearing in mind that the more we talk about elections, the more politieal groupings, if you like, of Chinese politicians loom upon the horizon?
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