TNAG-2449-FCO40-3565-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1992 — Page 22

1992-12-04 18:52 COMMS OFFICE (GOVT HOUSE)

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OPEN.

THEY HAVE BEEN WELL RECEIVED IN HONG KONG. AND THE BRITISH

GOVERNMENT ALSO BELIEVES, AS I DO, THAT IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANY BETTER

PROPOSALS THAT ARE FAIR, OPEN AND ACCEPTABLE TO THE PEOPLE OF HONG

KONG, THEN THEY SHOULD PUT THEM FORWARD. I HAPPEN ΤΟ BELIEVE THAT

MY PROPOSALS ARE GOOD ONES. I WILL ARGUE FOR THEM ON THEIR MERITS.

BUT IF ANYONE HAS ANY BETTER ARGUMENTS, OR BETTER PROPOSALS, THEN I'M

WILLING TO CONSIDER THEM CAREFULLY AND SINCERELY, AND SO TOO,

I IMAGINE, IS THIS COUNCIL.

IT IS A MATTER BOTH OF FACT AND PRINCIPLE THAT MY PROPOSALS

WILL ULTIMATELY BE DECIDED UPON HERE IN HONG KONG. IT IS A MATTER OF

FACT BECAUSE THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE 1995 ELECTIONS WILL REQUIRE

LEGISLATION AND IT IS ONLY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL WHICH CAN PASS SUCH

LEGISLATION. IT IS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE BECAUSE THE CABINET

BELIEVES, JUST AS I DO, THAT IT MUST SUPPORT THE

PEOPLE OF HONG KONG AS REFLECTED BY THIS COUNCIL.

ASPIRATIONS OF THE

I VISITED JAPAN FROM THE 25TH-28TH NOVEMBER. THERE I MET THE

PRIME MINISTER MR MIYAZAWA, THE FOREIGN MINISTER MR WATANABE, AND

OTHER SENIOR POLITICAL LEADERS. I ALSO ATTENDED THE OPENING SESSION

OF THE JAPAN-HONG KONG BUSINESS CO-OPERATION COMMITTEE AND MET A LARGE

NUMBER OF JAPANESE BUSINESS LEADERS. TRADE LINKS BETWEEN HONG KONG

AND JAPAN ARE STRONG AND GROWING AND I WAS DELIGHTED THAT MANY

DISTINGUISHED HONG KONG BUSINESS AMBASSADORS ATTENDED THE JAPAN-HONG

KONG BUSINESS CO-OPERATION COMMITTEE MEETING.

JAPAN AND HONG KONG HAVE SIMILAR PERSPECTIVES ON VITAL ISSUES

WE'RE BOTH CONCERNED

SUCH AS FREE TRADE AND MFN STATUS FOR CHINA.

ABOUT THE POLITICISATION OF TRADE.

I BRIEFED MY JAPANESE HOSTS ON

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