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HONG KONG. HE FELT THAT IF THE FUTURE ADMINISTRATION OF HONG KONG WAS INCOMPETENT AND INEFFICIENT IT WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GUARANTEE THE FUTURE PROSPERITY AND STABILITY OF THE TERRITORY. INTERNATIONALISATION OF THE PROBLEM COULD NOT HELP STABILITY AND PROSPERITY. THERE WAS A DANGER THAT HONG KONG MIGHT FOLLOW THE PATH OF TAIWAN. IN RECENT YEARS, TAIWAN'S ECONOMIC PROGRESS HAD BEEN ADMIRABLE. NOW ITS POLITICAL STRUCTURE WAS NOT STABLE.
IF HONG KONG HAD MORE DIRECTLY ELECTED NUMBERS IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IN THE SAME WAY AS TAIWAN'S PARTY OF DEMOCRATIC PROGRESS, ONE MIGHT SEE THE SAME KIND OF FUSS AND TROUBLE AS THERE HAD RECENTLY BEEN IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TAIWAN. THE BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM HAD A HISTORY OF 400 YEARS. WHEN HE WAS IN BRITAIN HE HAD VISITED THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND HEARD A DEBATE.
HE HAD BEEN STRUCK, IN SPITE OF THE LONG TRADITION, AT HOW IMPERTINENT AND NOISY THE OPPOSITION HAD BEEN. THE SPEAKER IN HIS CURIOUS WIG AND ANCIENT COSTUME HAD CONTINUALLY TO BANG THE TABLE
WITH A HAMMER AND CALL FOR ORDER. THE JAPANESE DIET HAD ALSO BEHAVED A BIT LIKE THAT. IN THE CHINESE VIEW, IN ORDER TO ENSURE PROSPERITY AND STABILITY IN HONG KONG, IT WOULD BE FAR BETTER TO FOLLOW A GRADUAL COURSE SO THAT THE POLITICS OF HONG KONG DID NOT FALL INTO THE HANDS OF A SMALL GROUP OF AMBITIOUS PEOPLE.
10. LORD YOUNG AGREED THAT THERE HAD BEEN MANY CHANGES IN EASTERN EUROPE. THE PROBLEM OF GERMAN REUNIFICATION WOULD NEED MORE CAREFUL WATCHING. PEKING APPEARED TO BE STABLE. BRITAIN'S ECONOMY WAS UNDERGOING A DIFFICULT PATCH. PROBLEMS HAD BEEN CREATED BY TOO FAST AN EXPANSION. THE HIGH INTEREST RATE OF 15 PER CENT COULD NOT BE BROUGHT DOWN UNTIL INFLATION HAD BEEN BROUGHT DOWN. GROWTH COULD ONLY BE RESUMED WHEN INFLATION HAD BEEN CUT BACK. BRITAIN
VALUED STABILITY. THE PREMIER SHOULD NOT BE CONCERNED ABOUT THE WAY OUR PARLIAMENT WAS RUN. MRS. THATCHER HAD BEEN IN POWER FOR NEARLY 11 YEARS. THE RESULTING CONTINUITY OF ECONOMIC POLICY HAD RESULTED IN GOOD ECONOMIC GROWTH. HE WAS GLAD THAT THE NEGOTIATIONS ON THE BASIC LAW HAD ENDED SATISFACTORILY. WITH THAT BEHIND US, HE WOULD LIKE TO SEE CALM RESTORED IN HONG KONG AND CONFIDENCE RETURNING. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PEKING AND LONDON COULD BE TAKEN UP PRIVATELY BETWEEN OURSELVES, AND NOT MADE PUBLIC. HE WAS SORRY IF RECENT ACTIONS BY THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT HAD POSED THE CHINESE SIDE SOME PROBLEMS. THE REASON FOR THE NATIONALITY PACKAGE WAS TO GIVE CONFIDENCE BACK TO HONG KONG. ALTHOUGH HONG KONG'S POPULATION WAS NEARLY 6 MILLION, THE SKILLS OF A FEW WERE VITAL TO ITS WELLBEING. BUT THESE WERE NOW BEING SOUGHT BY OTHER COUNTRIES. FOR INSTANCE, QANTAS HAD BEEN RECRUITING CERTAIN KEY PEOPLE IN HONG KONG TO HONG KONG'S DISADVANTAGE. WHEN HONG KONG
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