TNAG-2119-FCO40-3025-Future-of-Hong-Kong-general-1990 — Page 140

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following threats from the Americans of trade sanctions, the Government announced that the Americans' pro- posal had been accepted.

The reasons given in support of the proposal are without merit, in many cases misleading, and pule into in- significance when compared with the following:-

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rightly or wrongly, it will be as- sumed that the Hong Kong Govern- ment has given in to political pres- sure and threats of trade sanctions;

confidence in the system of Govern- ment in Hong Kong by consultation and consensus will be damaged;

- the practice of Hong Kong law will come under the control of unqua- lified persons and, as a result, safeguards of standards will be weakened;

the independence of the legal pro- fession will be put at risk as foreign firms, including firms from the United States and China will con- trol the practice of Hong Kong law;

the exposure of local law firms to international transactions will be reduced for reasons unrelated to open competition:

- localisation of the legal profession will become more difficult; and

the Law Society will be placed in an impossible position and its plans to nurture a strong and independent legal profession firmly rooted in Hong Kong will be hampered.

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