Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-25-Speech-3-195"
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"en.20001025.7.3-195"2
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". – I am delighted to be able to comment on this report and to commend the excellent work done by my honourable friend, John Cushnahan. He and I are old friends and, more importantly, old friends of Hong Kong. Both of us speak with – what I could describe with an understatement as – a degree of knowledge of that remarkable community.
There have been other issues too, including the recent controversy involving academic freedom and the even more recent one involving the Public Order Ordinance, where the provisional legislature replaced the more liberal arrangement that my administration bequeathed with something rather less liberal. I make no comment on that but I find it reassuring that Hong Kong public opinion continues to make clear that it takes its freedoms and rights very seriously. That goes for the media as well, as I mentioned earlier.
The long-term success of one country, two systems was always going to depend on the willingness of Hong Kong people to stand up for their rights and liberties; so far they have shown every sign of being determined to do so.
There are one or two specific issues in our bilateral relationship to which both reports refer. One is visa-free access to the European Union for Hong Kong SAR passport holders and the same issues apply equally for Macao. Both the Commission and the honourable gentleman's report support visa-free access. It was an issue that came up several times in my visit last week. I made clear then – as I make clear today – that I strongly support visa-free access. There are concerns on the part of some Member States. These concerns are profoundly misplaced. They stem from worries about illegal immigration from mainland China, not from the special administrative regions of Hong Kong or Macao. We remain wholly satisfied with the integrity of the border controls in place and with the integrity of SAR passport issuing procedures. The Council's visa working group which inspected the system was, I believe, impressed. I hope that we will be willing to grant visa-free access.
I hope too that we will be able to reinforce a flourishing economic relationship with Hong Kong, with strengthened cooperation in other areas, such as education and the environment. We will aim to promote the use of the European Communities' existing instruments in Hong Kong, such as participation in the Fifth Framework Programme on research, as the honourable gentleman's report recommends. There are a number of further recommendations in the report which my officials will be studying closely.
If I can just say one word about intellectual piracy, to which the honourable gentleman, Mr De Clercq, referred; it has been a problem for years. My administration took much more vigorous measures to deal with it. The present administration is taking particularly vigorous measures to deal with it, under the new director of the customs service whom I happen to know rather well because he was my private secretary for a number of years. Everybody has been impressed by the leadership that he has shown in tackling what is undoubtedly a serious problem for industry.
In closing, we strongly endorse the view in the Parliament that this monitoring – your monitoring and our monitoring – is valuable and that it should continue. We do not seek to interfere in Hong Kong's affairs, but the international community and the European Union in particular have a considerable stake in Hong Kong and its continuing rights and freedoms are embodied in a treaty lodged at the United Nations. We will continue to maintain our interest in Hong Kong. It is a community which inspired admiration the world over for its achievements and which, much to the satisfaction of its last governor, continues to do so.
It has been a short debate, but we have heard some excellent and well-informed speeches. I was grateful for the kind things that the honourable gentleman, Mr Dimitrakopoulos, said about my time in Hong Kong. I agree with him about the importance of the freedom of speech and a vigorous media and, judging by my experiences last week, the media does remain – at least the written media – extremely vigorous.
The honourable gentleman, Mr Watson, referred to the fact that we should not feel inhibited in what we say about Hong Kong or about other issues by our trading relationship with China. I am always surprised when people put the contrary point of view, not least because on the most recent figures, China had a EUR 30 billion trade surplus with the European Union. In the first six months of this year, the surplus was EUR 20 billion and looks like becoming EUR 40 billion for the whole year, so one needs to keep questions of trade in perspective, to put it very gently.
It is a happy coincidence that the debate is taking place today, since I was in Hong Kong last week. It was my third visit since I relinquished the post of governor and my first full working visit as a Commissioner. I can report first hand to the House that while, as several honourable gentlemen have pointed out, some problems exist, Hong Kong nevertheless remains a free society, undoubtedly one of the freest societies in Asia as both the Commission and Parliament's annual reports make clear.
The secret of Hong Kong's great success has always been its fusion of Hong Kong-Chinese entrepreneurial culture with the attributes of a free and open society founded on the rule of law. The concept of one country, two systems enshrined in the joint declaration is designed to maintain that special mix – a mix between independent judiciary, clean civil service, zero tolerance of corruption, free press on the one hand and market economics on the other.
As both our reports make clear, so far, on the whole, it is managing to maintain the mix and I share the view in the honourable gentleman's report that the fundamentals of the arrangement remain reasonably intact.
We must remember that Hong Kong has been through a momentous few years. Not only has it had to endure the transfer of sovereignty, no sooner did the flags change than Hong Kong – like the rest of Asia – was hit by the financial crisis.
It is a considerable tribute to the strength and resilience of people in Hong Kong that they have taken these tumultuous events in their stride. It does not surprise me entirely, they are many of them former refugees or the sons and daughters of refugees and they are used to handling and overcoming adversity. I am delighted that the Hong Kong economy is now bouncing back very strongly after a difficult couple of years. Part of the reason for that is thanks to the excellent stewardship by Hong Kong's superb civil service, not least its chief secretary and financial secretary who served Tung Chee Hwa with the same skill and dedication with which they served me. Hong Kong has an outstanding civil service and it would have been nice if that had been the thrust of the Xinhwa report which the honourable gentleman referred to.
For the most part, things have gone well but naturally there have been areas which have given rise to concern on the part of Hong Kong's many friends. Both reports address these directly. In particular, both reports mention the judgments in the right of abode case earlier this year. That was an important matter. We have emphasised and will continue to stress that the way in which this matter was handled, in particular the involvement of Beijing should remain wholly exceptional."@en1
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