Britain's Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has hailed the implementation of the "one country, two systems" principle in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in the past five years as a success.
Jack Straw made the comment at a news conference in Hong Kong Thursday. He came to Hong Kong for a one-day visit after winding up his five-day visit to China's mainland and Japan. While in Beijing, he met with President Jiang Zemin and Vice-Premier Qian Qichen.
Straw said Hong Kong has undoubtedly been enjoying a high degree of autonomy in the past five years. "Our overall judgment after five years' of the 'one country, two systems' principle is that generally it is working well in practice," he told reporters after meeting with Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa and a selected group of Legislative Councilors earlier Thursday.
"Of course, the SAR government and the citizens of Hong Kong have to ensure that the kind of success that we have seen in the past five years will continue," he remarked.
Listing the factors that contributed to the success in the past five years, Straw said, "In practice, Hong Kong's strength is based on the rule of law, on good governance, on quality public services and above all, on the skills and enterprise of the people." "These are not only strengths, but clear competitive advantages," he said.
In reply to a question, the British Foreign Secretary said, human rights have also been steadfastly upheld in the SAR.
Commenting on Hong Kong's economic relationship with China's mainland, Straw said considerable opportunities are arising from Hong Kong's "ever closer relationship" with its neighbors, particularly China's mainland, and the SAR's future economic prosperity will hinge on economic prosperity on the mainland.
"I am quite clear that the people of this region are fully qualified to take all the new opportunities before them for a continuing and prosperous future," he said.
Straw left Hong Kong Thursday evening for a visit to India and Pakistan.
(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2002)
