Hong Kong's Media Seminar

As far as I can recall this is the first public occasion in New Zealand dedicated to discussing, in depth, the implications of Hong Kong's return to China. For that reason alone I am very pleased to have been asked to come and open this seminar.

There is less than a year to go until the transition date of 1 July 1997 so this is a very timely initiative and Id like to welcome all of you, particularly those of you from overseas who have come to share your knowledge and insights.

As July 1997 gets closer well no doubt see a lot more about Hong Kong in the media - building to a real frenzy as the transition ceremonies start next year. About 6000 journalists are expected to be there (I hope at least a few are New Zealanders).

In recent years there have been huge changes in the world map as former colonies have become independent states. In Hong Kong's case a colonial territory is being returned to a sovereign power.

Naturally the differences in the political, social and economic systems between Hong Kong's and China have led to considerable speculation about Hong Kong's future. Among other things this seminar will give New Zealanders a base for informed discussion.

This sort of discussion cant take place without the historical and legal background of Hong Kong, so in the next ten minutes I want to briefly set the scene for you.

The island of Hong Kong was ceded to the United Kingdom after the first opium war, a conflict brought about by Britain's desire to secure a more satisfactory basis for its commercial relations with China. These had previously been conducted under very restrictive conditions in Canton.

Hong Kong island came into British hands following the signing of the Convention of Chuanbi in January 1841. The cession was confirmed in the Treaty of Nanking of August 1842 which ended the fighting. A supplementary treaty in October the next year allowed Chinese free access to Hong Kong for trading purposes.

Further Anglo-Chinese hostilities arose out of disputes over interpretation of these treaties and fighting broke out in 1856 with flare ups continuing until 1860. During the later phases of the conflict British troops were stationed on the Chinese mainland at Kowloon opposite Hong Kong island.

Finding it very suitable as a military base they secured a perpetual lease, which was converted to outright cession in the Convention of Peking at the wars end. Some thirty years later with Hong Kong now a major naval station as well as an entrepot for the China trade, the British became concerned about the activities of other European powers and Japan which were seeking territorial and other concessions from China.

They concluded efficient defence of Hong Kong's harbour required control of the land around it. So by a convention signed in Peking in June 1898, the United Kingdom secured a 99 year lease on the New Territories, which was made up of the area north of Kowloon up to the Shum Chun River and 235 islands.

Chinas governments - Imperial, Nationalist and Communist alike - considered all these treaties to be illegal because they were imposed by force. But although insistent on the return of Hong Kong, no Chinese government before the establishment of the Peoples Republic had the strength to bring this about.

From the time it took power the PRC Government asserted China would settle the Hong Kong question in an appropriate way when conditions are ripe. In practice it found that Hong Kong under British administration had many uses for China, not least as an intermediary in trade and other contacts with the non-Communist world.

But it never conceded British colonial rule over Hong Kong's was legitimate. In 1973, when several newly independent counties took an initiative to add Hong Kong's to the United Nations decolonisation list, China had it removed on the grounds this was a Chinese issue for China to resolve which the UN had no right to discuss.

Conditions for the return of Hong Kong began to ripen as the end of the lease on the New Territories approached. An initial British proposal that sovereignty should revert to China but administration of Hong Kong's remain a British responsibility was rebuffed by China. The UK Government then concluded that the rest of Hong Kong would not be viable without the New Territories and that the whole of the colony would have to be returned to China.

In the early 1980s they set about negotiating the terms of the transfer with the Chinese Government. The outcome was the Sino British Joint Declaration signed in December 1984. The Declaration is an international treaty registered with the United Nations. There has been nothing like it before in international relations. It defines a unique status for Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of the PRC under the one country, two systems formula.

The Declaration guarantees Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy in managing its affairs and states that Hong Kong's current economic and social systems will remain unchanged for fifty years. It spells out in great detail the powers that will remain with the Hong Kong Government after 1 July 1997 and explicitly limits the role of the central Chinese Government.

It lays down the principles by which future Hong Kong governments will be formed, the framework of laws and the judicial system that will operate in Hong Kong, the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong's residents, the right of Hong Kong to participate separately in selected international and regional organisations and much else.

The provisions of the Joint Declaration have been incorporated in Chinas domestic law as the Basic Law of the Hong Kong's Special Administrative Region. In effect this is Hong Kong's constitution. Since they agreed on this framework for Hong Kong's future, Britain and China have spent more than a decade in negotiations to work out the details of implementation.

Their agenda has had to cover every aspect of governmental activity. It has included, for example, establishing a Court of Final Appeal, resolving immigrations issues such as travel documents and residency rights, awarding major contracts and franchises that straddle the transfer date, disposing of the land holdings of the British defence forces stationed in Hong Kong, negotiating or renegotiating air services and overflight agreements, ensuring that international treaties and agreements affecting Hong Kong continue to apply there, and localising United Kingdom laws that will continue in force in Hong Kong after the transition.

These are much more complex tasks than were encountered in most decolonisation processes. It is not a matter of a colonial administration walking away and leaving a newly created state. Nor does it involve only two players, the colonial power and the colony - in this case the interests and systems of three entities - China, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom - have to be reconciled.

I think it speaks volumes for the vision of the leaders of China and the United Kingdom and for the skill, patience and tenacity of their negotiators that so much has been achieved. In saying that, Im well aware of the problems that have arisen over Hong Kong's future political structures and of the concerns about civil liberties, human rights and press freedoms after July 1997.

The rule of law, accountable government and the free flow of information and ideas have all been vital in creating the economy and way of life on which Hong Kong's extraordinary success is founded. The guarantees that they will continue are fundamental elements of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.

I don't believe either governments entered into these commitments lightly or cynically. I do believe both governments want this unprecedented experiment to succeed. I am therefore optimistic about the future of Hong Kong's. I hope your deliberations lead you to share my view.