TNAG-2119-FCO40-3025-Future-of-Hong-Kong-general-1990 — Page 76

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these interests, capitalistic Hong Kong and socialist China had

been able to co-exist harmoniously for more than four decades,

and China is willing to allow Hong Kong to maintain its

capitalistic system after 1997 under the formula of 'one country,

two systems. After the conclusion of the Sino-British Joint

Declaration, the ties between Hong Kong and China have

multiplied. Economic interdependency of the two societie has in

fact increased. Nevertheless, there is a tendency among Hong Kong

Chinese to stress the incompatibility of interests between China

and Hong Kong, and they are prone to define Hong Kong-China

relationship in conflict terms. For example, in my 1988 survey,

56.3 percent of respondents were of the opinion that China's

interests conflicted with those of Hong Kong (only 27.8 percent

thought differently). Such an a priori definition of the

relationship between Hong Kong Chinese and their future political

master is certainly not conducive to cordial encounter between

them. Actions taken by China that are of benefit to Hong Kong are

gratuitously taken for granted and soon forgotten, whereas those

that are seen as in contravention of Hong Kong's interests will

immediately become issues pitting Hong Kong against China, the

most serious incident of Hong Kong-China confrontation being the

Daya Bay nuclear plant controversy in 1986. As there will be an

inexorable increase in China's participation in local affairs,

Hong Kong-China conflict will remain a troublesome issue in the

short-term. Not surprisingly, the June 4 event in China in 1989

has aggravated the turbulent relationship between them. Though it