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it as highly unlikely that China would change the Basic Law which it has taken many years to hammer out.
The most reassuring factor about Hong Kong's future has been the fact that since the present regime came to power in China in 1949, they have strictly observed all agreements made with Britain
There concerning Hong Kong, even during the Cultural Revolution. is no reason to doubt that they will observe the Basic Law and the Joint Declaration too. In this lies our only hope, but if we take the initiative to break those agreements, China. will feel no obligation to keep them. Mr. Hurd himself said in a speech to Parliament in February 1990: Those who suggest that whatever we do now China would be obliged to accept in 1997 are out of touch with reality." This statement makes one wonder at what point Mr., Hurd himself got out of touch with reality and supported Mr. Patten in his gamble that China would be obliged to accept his package in 1997. Did he listen to radicals who have never recognised China's right to promulgate the Basic Law except on their terms? Did he work with those who were prepared to discard the principles, and work through the loopholes left by unfinished discussions on detail? The answer is anyone's guess. Whatever the answer, the cost has been high in loss of confidence and trust, in shattered hopes, and economic losses. The social wrappings rather than the constitutional contents of the Patten package made it attractive- at first sight, but once it was seen that the economy was in danger and the future uncertain, people began to opt for a smooth transition.
To make matters worse, Mr. Patten and Mr. Hurd have been roaming the country and the world seeking international support for themselves in what is an Anglo-Chinese family quarrel that is no one else's business. Rightly or wrongly, China feels, it is an international conspiracy. It is doubtful if that is the case, but after two centuries of foreign interference in China's affairs,
What can anyone blame China for jumping to that conclusion? has the affair to do with America, Canada, Europe, Japan, or any other country?
Members of Parliament should ask themselves why men of honour such as Lord MacLehose, Lord Wilson, Lord Shawcross and Sir Percy Cradock would speak out against a British plan unless they felt strongly that it was wrong in principle, even dishonourable.
I myself am a democrat and have lobbied Britain, unsuccessfully,
But in this instance for decades for democracy for Hong kong.
I am convinced that Britain has not honoured its agreements, and must therefore take the blame for the breakdown in Anglo- Chinese relations. This is not good for British relations or for British trade with China. It is not good for China. Most of all, it is unfair that the Hong Kong people have to be the victims
a catastrophe that was not of their making.
of
Yours sincerely,
Yours dincearty
thene the
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