Remarks by Margaret Fong,
Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic & Trade Affairs, USA
at the HKSAR 10th Anniversary Reception

Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C.
26 June 2007 6.30 pm

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for joining us on this special evening as we gather to mark the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. I am very honoured to have with us tonight Ambassador Zhou, Under Secretary Lavin, Under Secretary Mancuso, Ambassador Hill, our honourable friends from Congress and the diplomatic corp.

2. “One Country, Two Systems” was a novel idea when it was first put forward by the late Mr. Deng Xiaoping. Many people were sceptical and some doubted whether Hong Kong could remain a vibrant, open and free society as it had been before 1997.

3. A lot of you would remember the Fortune magazine pronounced “The Death of Hong Kong” exactly 12 years ago today and proclaimed that the city's future could be summed up in two words: "It's over". As the article reported, Hong Kong's role as a vibrant international commercial and financial hub was "indisputably dying" and the city was destined to become "a global backwater."

4. Thankfully, the dire predictions have never come to pass. But it has not been plain sailing either.

5. We certainly have had our share of challenges in the past decade, from the Asian financial crisis and the avian flu outbreak in 1997 to SARS in 2003; and all this amidst uncertainties as Hong Kong set sail through uncharted waters of an untested political model.

6. Hong Kong emerged from humble beginnings as a sparsely populated, largely mountainous terrain, to a citadel of capitalism that teems with life today. The pulse of nearly 7 million people defines it as a modern metropolis – a triumphant merging of great civilisations and evidence of the benefits of free trade.

7. From an uncertain, untested model, “One Country, Two Systems” has come to embody the reality of Hong Kong's high-degree of autonomy.

8. Underpinned by the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, "One Country, Two Systems" preserves our cherished rights and freedoms. Civil liberties remain inextricably woven into economic liberties - with our commitment to the Rule of Law the common thread running through them.

9. Hong Kong's adherence to these fundamentals not only allows its citizens the freedom to exercise their entrepreneurial talents and to prosper, but also grants the city the notable distinction of the "world's freest economy."

10. Hong Kong also continues to move forward in the development of its political system.

11. The Hong Kong Government this summer aims to release a public consultation paper on models and roadmap for implementing universal suffrage for the elections of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council, based on views collected from the community over a 20-month period.

12. The Government's commitment to advancing universal suffrage shall continue unabated during a new Administration under Chief Executive Donald Tsang.

13. Hong Kong's relationship with the United States stands as one of the greatest testaments of confidence in the integrity of Hong Kong's economic, social and legal systems.

14. At the end of 2005, US inward direct investment in Hong Kong amounted to US$26.5 billion. In addition, the US maintains the largest number of regional operations in the city among our trading partners.

15. Beyond the investment figures, Hong Kong has proven to be a trusted partner with the US in enhancing international security through its participation in the Container Security Initiative and its efforts to thwart money-laundering and terrorist financing.

16. Over the past ten years, Hong Kong has sustained its dynamism and continued its upward trajectory as an international centre for finance, trade, tourism and logistics in its new role as a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

17. Marking its evolution from a remote fishing village, last year Hong Kong's stock exchange raised over US$42 billion in IPOs – surpassing New York and placing the exchange second behind London.

18. That is quite an achievement for a city that was predicted to fail before it ever had an opportunity to prove itself.

19. If you visit Hong Kong today, you will feel the vitality, the openness and the fierce determination to uphold the values and freedoms we hold dear by everyone who calls Hong Kong home. This is what makes Hong Kong shine. I am confident that Hong Kong will continue to thrive as a free, open and dynamic society under “One Country, Two Systems”.

20. Thank you.