HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Mr. Chairman, people of Hong Kong are facing challenging times. Visitors to China, both Chinese and Foreign, have made the observation that China is 'Opening Up' its door and wish to see her success in her modernization. In Hong Kong, whilst we strive for liberty and democracy, we must also make a success of 'one-country-two systems' for the sake of China and Hong Kong.
Mr. Chairman, I have the pleasure to support the motion and recommend the agreement to people of Hong Kong.
MR. AUGUSTINE S. K. CHUNG (in English):--The Sino-British Declaration has received general approval not only from the Hong Kong people but also from many countries in the world, especially Hong Kong's major trading partners. It has had a healing effect on the confidence crisis but it is not an overnight one. It needs great effort from the Hong Kong people and the support from China, Great Britain and other countries to make Hong Kong socially and economically capable of recovering from the serious wound it has suffered in the last two years. In other words, we have been hit by a tropical storm and we have a great deal to do for recovery after the storm is over.
The most important task for sensible people to do is to remove the last trace of uncertainty from their fellow people in Hong Kong. This is so because some people are still worrying about the possibility of China not observing the Sino-British Agreement in view of what they called the poor performance of China in the past. Such worry is in fact unwarranted for reasons stated below:
(a) It is true that our fellow Chinese in Mainland China were on several occasions during the last 35 years very brutal and cruel in their behaviours towards the intellectuals and the rich. It was, however, due to three major factors:
(i) They were at that time in isolation from the rest of the world. They did not know that they were backward. On the contrary, they thought they were superior to many people in other parts of the world. They were not in need of any support and friendship from anywhere outside China. They therefore did not have to adjust their behaviour to win such respect, friendship and support.
(ii) In those earlier days, the Chinese Government had put the blame for China's poverty on the class enemies within and outside China. Such blame has created hatred and latent violence against the class enemies who were practically all the people who did not share their poverty and ideology. Such hatred had made them aggressive people.
(iii) The late Chairman MAO was such a strong leader who could make the Chinese people in China follow his order blindly. In these days, the fate of the Mainland Chinese was almost controlled by him alone. If he should make mistakes, the one billion Chinese would have to suffer for that mistake!
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(b) However, the said three factors have disappeared with the end of the Cultural Revolution, the opening up and the death of the late Chairman MAO.
(i) The 10-year Cultural Revolution has exhausted and steamed off all the hatred and latent violence of the Mainland Chinese to the extent that they have become more sensitive to violence than many other people in the world.
(ii) The dynasty of one-man rule was ended with the death of the late Chairman MAO. Today, no leaders in China can act against logic, reasons and the wishes of the people because the people will no longer be willing to bear with or swallow any leaders' mistakes blindly. Therefore, the leaders in China have to note carefully and act according to the wishes of the people.
(iii) More and more Mainland Chinese have become aware of the inferiority of their living standard as compared with the people of many countries in the world. More and more of them have decided to catch up. They do realize that they cannot achieve their goals without the support from outside. They therefore need respect, confidence, support and friendship from other nations and from more than 30 million overseas Chinese.
In the light of the above changes, the Mainland Chinese have good reasons to impress the world at large their genuine intention to maintain good international relations. They know that their attitude and actions towards Hong Kong are the most significant test indicators and they cannot afford to produce a poor record in such indicators. That being the case, our fellow Chinese in Mainland China definitely have more reasons than we have to maintain the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.
It is therefore our duty to make full use of the Sino-British Agreement and the above position of China to reconstruct the future of Hong Kong to the best interest of the people both in Hong Kong and in China. It is also of paramount importance for those who will become the future leaders of Hong Kong to bear in mind that Hong Kong is majorly an economically orientated society which does not have the qualification to become either a welfare or socialist society within the next half a century. Those who wish to become leaders shall know comprehensively the factors which have made and will make Hong Kong stable and prosperous. In this aspect, the Sino-British Agreement is only the foundation and it is for us to build thereon a sound superstructure.
Mr. Chairman, I support your motion.
MR. WALTER M. SULKE (in English):---Mr. Chairman, two things stand out about the White Paper and neither of them are printed in black and white in its pages.
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Mr. Chairman, people of Hong Kong are facing a challenge times. Visitor to China, both Chinese and Foreign, have made the observation that China is 'Openning Up' its door and wish to see her success in her modernization. In Hong Kong, whilst we strive for liberty and democracy, we must also make a success of 'one-country-two systems' for the sake of China and Hong Kong.
Mr. Chairman, I have the pleasure to support the motion and recommend the agreement to people of Hong Kong.
MR. AUGUSTINE S. K. CHUNG (in English):--The Sino-British Declaration has received general approval not only from the Hong Kong people but also from many countries in the world, especially the Hongkong's major trading partners. It has the healing effect on the confidence crisis but it is not an overnight one. It needs great effort from the Hong Kong people and the supports from China, Great Britain and other countries to make Hong Kong socially and economically capable of recovering from the serious wound it has suffered in the last two years. In other words, we have been hit by a tropical storm and we have a great deal to do for recovery after the storm is over.
The most important task for the sensible people to do is to remove the last trace of uncertainty from their fellow people in Hong Kong. This is so because some people are still worrying about the possibility of China not observing the Sino-British Agreement in view of what they called the poor performance of China in the past. Such worry is in fact unwarranted for reasons stated below: (a) It is true that our fellow Chinese in Mainland China were on several occasions during the last 35 years very brutal and cruel in their behaviours towards the intellectuals and the rich. It was, however, due to three major factors:
(i) They were at that time in isolation from the rest of the world. They did not know that they were backward. On the contrary, they thought they were superior to many people in other parts of the world. They were not in need of any support and friendship from anywhere outside China. They therefore did not have to adjust their behaviour to win such respect, friendship and support.
(ii) In those earlier days, the Chinese Government had put the blames of China's poverty on the class enemies within and outside China. Such blames have created hatred and latent violence against the class enemies who were practically all the people who did not share their poverty and ideology. Such hatred had made them aggressive people.
(ii) The late Chairman MAO was such a strong leader who could make the Chinese people in China follow his order blindly. In these days, the fate of the Mainland Chinese was almost controlled by him alone. If he should make mistakes, the one billion Chinese would have to suffer for that mistake!
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(b) However, the said three factors have disappeared with the end of the Cultural Revolution, the opening up and the death of the late Chairman MAO.
(i) The 10-year Cultural Revolution has exhausted and steamed off all the hatred and latent violence of the Mainland Chinese to the extent that they have become more sensitive to violence than many other people in the world.
(ii) The dynasty of one-man rule was ended with the death of the late Chairman MAO. Today, no leaders in China can act against logic, reasons and the wishes of the people because the people will no longer be willing to bear with or swallow any leaders' mistakes blindly. Therefore, the leaders in China have to note carefully and act according to the wishes of the people.
(iii) More and more Mainland Chinese have become aware of the inferiority of their living standard as compared with the people of many countries in the world. More and more of them have decided to catch up. They do realize that they cannot achieve their goals without the support from outside. They therefore need respect, confidence, support and friendship from other nations and from more than 30 million overseas Chinese.
In the light of the above changes, the Mainland Chinese have good reasons to impress the world at large their genuine intention to maintain good interna- tional relation. They know that their attitude and actions towards Hong Kong are the most significant test indicators and they cannot afford to produce poor record in such indicators. That being the case, our fellow Chinese in Mainland China definitely have more reasons than we have to maintain the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.
It is therefore our duty to make full use of the Sino-British Agreement and the above position of China to reconstruct the future of Hong Kong to the best interest of the people both in Hong Kong and in China. It is also of paramount importance for those who will become the future leaders of Hong Kong to bear in mind that Hong Kong is majorly a economically orientated society which does not have the qualification to become either a welfare or socialist society with the next half a century. Those who wish to become leaders shall know comprehensively the factors which have made and will make Hong Kong stable and prosperous. In this aspect, the Sino-British Agreement is only the foundation and it is for us to build thereon a sound super structure.
Mr. Chairman, I support your motion.
MR. WALTER M. SULKE (in English):---Mr. Chairman, two things stand out about the White Paper and neither of them are printed in black and white in its
pages.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.