Speeches and Articles by Former Consul General Richard A. Boucher

Remarks by U.S. Consul General Richard A. Boucher
to the New York Bar Association
International Law and Practice Session

October 23, 1997

Thank you for inviting me to talk to you today. One of my main goals as I prepared my remarks was to say something that would be memorable. At first, I thought the way to do that would be to tell you something profound and provocative. But then I realized that might be incompatible with my job as a diplomat. So then I thought I'd make the speech memorable by coming up with something dramatic. Unfortunately, there's really nothing dramatic to say about developments in Hong Kong.

In the end, I decided the best way to make my speech memorable would be to hang it on some well-known cliches, catchy little phrases you already know and therefore that you can remember. Taken together, they would summarize my views about Hong Kong and the United States' role here. So here are the titles of the different sections of my talk:

-- Just the facts, ma'am.

-- If you lived here, you'd be home now.

-- So far, so good.

-- What's in it for you?

-- And, lastly, y'all come back now, y'hear? I'm not sure this last one is entirely appropriate for the New York Bar Association, but hope those of you who understand it will translate it for the others.

So let's start with Just the facts, ma'am. After 15 years of speculation about what Hong Kong would be like after the handover, we are beginning to get the answer. A small army of academics, politicians, journalists, and, yes, diplomats -- have made their careers over the last decade and a half by predicting whether China would honor its pledges, whether Hong Kong could really exercise a high level of autonomy in all areas but foreign relations and defense, and whether the political change of 1997 would result in adverse social, commercial and financial influences. But we can all throw away that crystal ball now. The future which pundits have been describing for so long is coming into focus, and we are beginning to see how things are actually playing out in today's Hong Kong just by looking around us.

The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region which came into being on July 1 is not exactly like any other I know of. No other region or city in China, or elsewhere for that matter, has the kind of high global profile and the scope of responsibility that this one does. Accordingly, Hong Kong's present government is in the process of setting precedents, of working out exactly what its high level of autonomy is going to mean in concrete terms. Its courts are handling cases, and its political system dealing with issues, that are giving shape to the new Hong Kong polity and society. And while the government role is important, the decisions, reactions and experimentation of Hong Kong's private sector -- its companies, its interest groups, its individual people -- are equally crucial in determining what tomorrow's Hong Kong is going to be like. Hong Kong's future is being decided in the securities markets, the courts, the police stations, the newspapers and Customs Houses of Hong Kong. The future was not decided in a day on July 1. As the precedents are created and the facts play out, the reality of Hong Kong's future role will take shape. Our view of that future needs to be based on what happens here, not what we predicted would happen.

So, how do things look so far? Here's where we shift into the If you lived here, you'd be home now section.

For most people who have lived in Hong Kong on both sides of the reversion of sovereignty, there is a feeling of familiar comfort about almost every aspect of life here. The media remain free and feisty. The courts are still trying cases based on the common law. The Special Administrative Region still operates as a separate customs territory from China. Customs regulations are being enforced. Hong Kong policemen patrol the streets. Hong Kong is active as an independent member of important international groups like the World Trade Organization and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum. There are some issues of concern that I will mention in a moment, but many people have remarked that the most noticeable difference is simply the fact that we see different flags flying around town.

This really shouldn't come as a big surprise to us when we consider that the framework on which the Special Administrative Region is based emphasizes continuity. The two major pillars of that framework are the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 and the Basic Law which was passed in 1990 by China's National People's Congress. Both these documents spell out the intention that Hong Kong's present way of life is to be maintained.

And here I should note that the United States' involvement in Hong Kong, both official and unofficial, has also continued just as it did before the handover. Hong Kong's American Chamber of Commerce is the largest outside the United States. We are Hong Kong's second largest export market, and it is the 11th largest market for U.S. exports, just after France and ahead of Brazil and China. All indicators are that this commercial interdependence will continue to develop.

Turning from commercial exports to cultural ones, tens of thousands of Hong Kong people are alumni of U.S. colleges and universities. A large number of faculty members in Hong Kong's institutions of higher learning are either American or American-trained, and academic and cultural exchanges between the United States and Hong Kong continue to form an important part of intellectual activity here.

If you come to the U.S. Consulate General today, you will find that we are still doing exactly what we did last year and the year before. We are assisting U.S. citizens, issuing visas, facilitating port calls by the U.S. Navy, working closely with our counterparts across the board in Hong Kong government on a full range of issues, including, especially, promotion and protection of U.S. commercial interests. The authorities here continue to cooperate closely with U.S. law enforcement agencies on stamping out crimes which afflict both our societies, including credit card fraud, counterfeiting, trademark and copyright infringement, smuggling, drug trafficking, and illegal immigration. With clearance from the Chinese authorities, U.S. Navy ships call in Hong Kong regularly at the same rate as they have for many years, providing an opportunity for their crews to enjoy liberty while the ships themselves reprovision -- using the same procedures and contractors as before. Our relationship with the official representatives of the Chinese government who have arrived since the handover are developing in a friendly and businesslike way.

In a nutshell, we can say, so far, so good. Hong Kong and the U.S. remain important markets for each other. There are an estimated 50,000 American citizens here, a number which has grown steadily over the last decade and on which the handover made no impact. Hong Kong continues to be a society where the rule of law is respected, and where the courts operate well.

All this is good. Our biggest disappointment, and that of many people in Hong Kong, with the new state of affairs has been the fact that the present Legislative Council is a selected body, and that a largely elected body that preceded it was abolished when the new government came in. There is good news in that elections for a new Legislative Council have been scheduled for next May, although we still have questions about the methods of electing various representatives. The United States will continue to urge that those elections and Hong Kong's subsequent democratic development provide for an open and representative government as speedily as possible because a representative government is the best way to ensure that laws are respected and that government meets the needs of the people of Hong Kong.

So, What's in it for you? Why should Americans care about what happens to this region of six million people, halfway around the world from home? Some of the reasons are, I hope, implicit in what I've already said. The U.S. has significant direct interests here in terms of investment, commercial activities, vital law enforcement links, U.S. Navy port calls, and educational and cultural exchange.

Underlying this all is Hong Kong's free and open society. As Senator Phil Gramm has observed, Hong Kong exists so that professors of economics could have an example to point to in their lectures. This amazing place shows irrefutably what free people living in a free market can achieve.

From a wider foreign policy perspective, because of our considerable interests here, Hong Kong is an important element in our bilateral relationship with the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong's future development and autonomy are a regular feature of discussions between the U.S. and China. Also because of our interests here, we are fundamentally supportive of Hong Kong's role in Asia. We believe Hong Kong in many ways sets an important example for the developing economies and societies in this region through its open economy and open society. There are lessons in Hong Kong's prosperity, efficiency, and low incidence of corruption.

And, finally, let me say y'all come back now, y'hear! What I want you to remember when you hear this phrase is that Hong Kong, the new Hong Kong, is still evolving. All we can do is take a snapshot of how things are today. We need to keep on coming back and stick with this city for the foreseeable future. Pessimists say that Hong Kong may succeed in its first days as a Special Administrative Region, but that over time there will be a decline. I tend to think that as long as we continue to recognize and defend the qualities that made Hong Kong what it is today, the stronger the likelihood that Hong Kong will extend its prosperity into the future.

Whether or not these predictions come true will be determined by the strengths of Hong Kong's institutions and people, and their own determination to maintain and improve on existing standards. As Hong Kong people, Hong Kong courts, and the Hong Kong government decide a myriad of issues in the future, the key issues for us are whether Hong Kong is being left to decide its own fate and whether Hong Kong keeps up the standards and practices it stands for. So far, the signs are good. For Hong Kong's future will be determined by the actions of its civil servants in maintaining clean government. It will be decided by securities regulators ensuring transparency and fairness in a complicated regulatory environment. It will be decided by impartial decisions on government contracts, and active efforts against corruption. It will be decided by a free and active press, providing the information that citizens and business people need to operate in an open environment. It will be decided by whether all issues are aired and whether all points of view are welcome to be expressed, either in writing or on the streets. It will be decided by whether consistent progress is maintained at every juncture towards more open and accountable government.

As Hong Kong moves towards it future, it will need more openness not less. As business becomes more complicated, transparency becomes even more necessary for markets to function efficiently and for corruption to be held at bay. As more mainland Chinese firms seek financing in Hong Kong, markets here will need more, not less, information about China from newspapers and electronic media. As people in Hong Kong operate businesses on a wider and wider scale, basing their prosperity on more and more knowledge intensive services, they will expect more and more control over their local government and laws.

These are the elements that underpin Hong Kong's present success. Their future development and strengthening will determine how Hong Kong's unique role in this region can develop. I have faith that they will continue to underpin Hong Kong's success. But I'm going to keep on taking those periodic snapshots just to make sure.

So, to recap, let me go down the line of cliches one more time:

Just the facts, ma'am -- the time for predictions is over; facts are establishing what is really happening in post-handover Hong Kong.

If you lived here, you'd be home now -- since July 1, continuity has been much more in evidence here than has change.

So far, so good -- with the notable exception of the Provisional Legislative Council, we find that good precedents are being set over the last four months for Hong Kong's autonomy and maintenance of an open society.

What's in it for you? -- plenty, if you care about American business, culture, law enforcement, about the future of U.S.-China relations, about the face of East Asia.

Y'all come back now, y'hear? -- so you can see if the standards and practices that have made Hong Kong will be sustained over time.

In closing, I want to say a special word of praise for the people of Hong Kong, without whom no document or plan, however idealistic, could have brought this great city into being. Though it is a generalization, it is valid to say that Hong Kong people have demonstrated consistently throughout their history that they are industrious, and resilient. I have faith that, with their abilities and on the basis they have already built, they will continue to play a vital role in constructing Hong Kong, modernizing China, building ties between the United States and China, and in contributing to the dramatic integration and growth of Asia. We will be here as their partners. We should all wish them well.

Thank you.

*     *     *     *     *