TNAG-2613-FCO40-3804-International-support-from-Australia-and-New-Zealand-regardi-1992 — Page 11

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INWARD CABLEGRAM

ACTION: EAB

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THREE POTENTIAL BLOCS, THE AMERICAS AND THE WESTERN PACIFIC, EASTERN ASIA. IT'S AN OVERARCHING COMPREHENSIVE KIND OF PROCESS ORGANISATION WHICH IS DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE TRADE LIBERALISATION IN THAT WHOLE REGION RATHER THAN DRAWING LINES DOWN THE MIDDLE OF IT. WE WANT VERY MUCH THAT TREND TO CONTINUE WORLDWIDE.

QUESTION: AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

ON THE ISSUE OF ASIA AND CHRIS PATTEN, THE NEW GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG, WHO MADE HIS FIRST MAJOR SPEECH LAST WEEK, I WAS WONDERING IN YOUR TALKS TODAY WHETHER YOU WERE ABLE TO LEARN ANYTHING ANY FURTHER FROM DOUGLAS HURD ABOUT THE BRITISH ATTITUDE TOWARDS THAT PART OF THE WORLD, AND HOW YOU ACTUALLY SEE THINGS UNFOLDING IN THE FUTURE NOW WITH AUSTRALIA GOING MORE TOWARDS STRONGER TIES WITH ASIA AND BRITAIN STRONGER WITH EUROPE AND... REACTION THAT MAINLAND CHINA IS TO RESPOND?

SENATOR EVANS

WELL WE HAVE BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE PUBLICLY AND PRIVATELY WITH WHAT CHRIS PATTEN'S DOING IN HONG KONG. IT IS A SUBTLE BUT IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS GREATER DEMOCRATISATION IN HONG KONG. IT'S NOT A MATTER SO MUCH OF CREATING A FULLY DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATIVE CHAMBER AND ONE THAT HAS THE EXECUTIVE FULLY RESPONSIBLE TO IT. IT'S A MUCH LESS SUBSTANTIAL MOVE THAN THAT. AT BEST YOU ARE CREATING A LEGISLATURE TO WHICH THE EXECUTIVE WILL BE RESPONSIVE, RATHER THAN RESPONSIBLE, AND A CHAMBER THAT'S A LITTLE MORE DEMOCRATIC THAN IT PREVIOUSLY WAS. BUT THESE ARE USEFUL STEPS FORWARD AND DO REPRESENT AN IMPORTANT SET OF SIGNALS I THINK, TO CHINA, THAT THE WORLD IS CHANGING, THAT HONG KONG IS CHANGING AND THAT REALLY IT OUGHT TO BE CHANGING TOO. I THINK BRITAIN LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE IN EUROPE IS RATHER PREOCCUPIED WITH MATTERS EUROPEAN AT THE MOMENT. WHAT I HAVE SOUGHT TO DO IN MY TALKS IS TO EMPHASISE THE VITALITY AND DYNAMISM, NOT JUST OF INDIVIDUAL PLACES IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION WITH WHICH BRITAIN HAS LINKS POLITICAL OR ECONOMIC, BUT REALLY THE REGION AS A WHOLE. I HAVE SOUGHT TO EMPHASISE THE WAY IN WHICH THERE IS AN EMERGING SENSE OF ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL COMMUNITY, BOTH IN THE ECONOMIC SENSE WHICH APEC IS THE BEST DEMONSTRATION, AND ALSO IN A POLITICAL AND STRATEGIC SENSE WHERE THERE IS AN EMERGING DIALOGUE OF A MUCH MORE COMPLEX KIND, SOPHISTICATED KIND IN MANY WAYS, THAN WAS THE CASE WHEN THE WHOLE REGION WAS CAUGHT, LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE COLD WAR GRID LOCK. AND I HAD SIMILAR CONVERSATIONS WITH THE OPPOSITION SPOKESMEN WHO I THINK ARE EQUALLY PREOCCUPIED WITH EUROPE. THERE IS A RECOGNITION HERE THAT THERE IS A LOT HAPPENING OUT IN OUR PART OF THE WORLD, AND I THINK A GROWING REALISATION THAT AUSTRALIA IS VERY MUCH A PART NOW OF THAT PART OF THE WORLD TO THE EXTENT THAT THERE IS AN EMERGING SENSE OF COMMUNITY IT'S A COMMUNITY OF WHICH AUSTRALIA IS VERY MUCH A MEMBER, WHICH WE ARE HELPING TO CREATE AND CERTAINLY

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