CONFIDENTIAL
131240 MDHIAN 6230
UNLESS WE DID THIS, THOSE KEY PEOPLE WOULD LEAVE LONG BEFORE 1997. BUT HOW COULD THE TWO GOVERNMENTS ESTABLISH CONFIDENCE IN HONG KONG ?
6.
LORD YOUNG SAID THAT HE HAD TWO PROPOSALS. ON THE FIRST, HE SAID THAT IT WAS ALMOST UNAVOIDABLE THAT WE WOULD DO THINGS THE CHINESE WOULD NOT LIKE. THERE WOULD BE OCCASIONS WHEN THE CHINESE WOULD DO THINGS THAT WE DID NOT LIKE. BUT TO DEAL WITH THIS SITUATION IT WOULD BE WISER TO COMMUNICATE PRIVATELY LIKE MEMBERS OF A FAMILY. A WHISPER IN PEKING BECAME A GALE IN HONG KONG. EVERY PUBLIC STATEMENT PUT OUT IN BRITAIN OR CHINA WAS MAGNIFIED. HE WAS SURE THAT AGREEMENT COULD BE FOUND SINCE IT WAS IN BOTH OUR INTERESTS THAT HONG KONG SHOULD BE RETURNED TO CHINA IN A PROSPEROUS CONDITION. THUS PRIVATE COMMUNICATION ON POINTS OF DIFFICULTY WAS MUCH BETTER THAN PUBLIC AIRING OF GRIEVANCES.
7.
SECONDLY, ALTHOUGH IT WAS ALREADY A MODERN MIRACLE, HONG KONG HAD TO KEEP DEVELOPING TO SURVIVE. THE PRESENT AIRPORT AND CONTAINER TERMINAL WERE TOO SMALL FOR THE FUTURE. IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT BY 1994 OR 1995, BECAUSE OF THE INADEQUACIES OF THE AIRPORT AND PORT TERMINAL, HONG KONG MIGHT BEGIN TO SLOW DOWN. HONG KONG HAD NOTHING ELSE BUTPEOPLE AS ITS RESOURCE. RAW MATERIALS WERE IMPORTED AND FINISHED GOODS WERE EXPORTED. IT HAD, THEREFORE, BEEN PROPOSED TO BUILD A NEW AIRPORT AND CONTAINER TERMINAL WITH THE NECESSARY ANCILLARY INFRASTRUCTURE. THE AIRPORT WOULD BE AS BIG AS GATWICK AND HEATHROW PUT TOGETHER. BUT EVEN SO, FORECASTS SUGGESTED THAT IT WOULD ONLY BE ADEQUATE UNTIL 2011. THE NEW CONTAINER PORT WOULD BE THREE TIMES AS BIG AS THE PRESENT ONE. A PROSPEROUS AND GROWING HONG KONG WOULD BE THE KEY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WHOLE PEARL RIVER DELTA. THE PROJECT WOULD BE DUE TO START IN THE COURSE OF THIS YEAR, WITH SIXTY PER CENT OF ITS COSTSCOMING FROM PRIVATE SOURCES. THE FIRST AIRCRAFT WOULD NOT LAND UNTIL JUNE 1997, JUST BEFORE HONG KONG REVERTED TO CHINA. JUST AS CITIC HAD SHOWN AN INTEREST IN HONG KONG'S TELEPHONES, so IT WOULD BE A GREAT HELP IF IN SOME WAY THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA THROUGH CITIC CR THE BANK OF CHINA, FOR INSTANCE, COULD TAKE AN INTEREST IN THE PORT AND AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT. IT WOULD BE A PRACTICAL SYMBOL OF OUR JOINT BELIEF IN A STABLE AND PROSPEROUS FUTURE FOR THE TERRITORY.
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LI ASKED WHERE THE REST OF THE MONEY WOULD COME FROM, IF 60 PER CENT OF THE RESOURCES WOULD COME FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR. LORD YOUNG SAID THAT HONG KONG HAD ALREADY PUT ASIDE FUNDS FOR THE FUTURE. IN ANSWER TO A SERIES OF FURTHER QUESTIONS FROM LI,
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