-6-
heading in the direction of independence and because the Hong Kong Government worried that election platforms would produce rivalry between Communist and KMT-backed candidates. Such a slow evolution of political systems suited the mood of the territory.
Most of the population showed a marked reluctance to get involved in politics of any sort, either domestically or, even more, in those concerning China.
Many of them had, after all,
recently fled from China and political turmoil. Above all they wanted a chance to rebuild their own lives (and make money) without political interference or involvement.
14.
All that has now changed. Contact with China is now frequent at governmental level and continuous for the business community and many private individuals. Last year some 22.8 million journeys were made from Hong Kong into China by land or sea. Many others went by air. Most of this increased intermingling between Hong Kong and China is healthy. Some of it is not. The healthy part is that Hong Kong's economic success is now largely dependent on the rapid growth of China's economy, particularly in the South. Hong Kong enterprises now employ over 3 million workers in Guangdong province alone. This is more than our total domestic workforce.
15. In this respect Hong Kong has returned to its pre-1949 role a trading centre, rather than the manufacturing centre it became briefly in the 60s and 70s. Chinese investment in Hong Kong is substantial. Almost every province is represented here in the shape of a commercial company. This year alone I have met five of China's 22 provincial governors during their visits to the territory. For almost all of them Hong Kong is their largest external market and their greatest source of external investment - usually to the extent of 70-80% of the total. Such a network of contacts with the rapidly developing economy of China bodes well for Hong Kong's future role as a gateway to China. They will provide a large constituency of influential people in Mainland China who will wish to see Hong Kong's separate capitalist system continue to flourish.
16.
The potentially unhealthy part of growing inter-dependence between Hong Kong and China is China's increasing tendency to interfere in a way which risks eroding Hong Kong's autonomy both now and after 1997. As the date for transferring
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.