************************************************************
Following is a speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in Boston this evening (November 8, Boston time):
Dean Ellwood, students and Faculty of the Kennedy School of Government,
I began work in Government more years ago than I care to remember. It was in an age when the word "computer" could still refer to people who did calculations for the observatory or the statistics department rather than to machines.
As Theodore Roethke, briefly a Harvard man once wrote, "I have known the inexorable sadness of pencils, neat in their boxes ...... all the misery of manila folders and mucilage."I know what he meant!
But what great changes I have seen! The Soviet Union passing away; Hong Kong returning peacefully to China's sovereignty; and, the iPad nudging out the manila folder from the corridors of Government.
Of great help to me in managing the many changes of my working life was the time I spent here at the Kennedy School of Government in the early 1980s. Little did I know then where I might end up.
Negotiations between China and Britain over Hong Kong's future were only just starting. The idea of a special administrative region with its own Basic Law and retaining its own legal system, financial system, Government and Chief Executive had not yet seen the light of day. Teachers and friends from this school have stood by me through the many transitions since then.
So, I am very happy to be invited back here today to join you in marking the double anniversary of 75 years of the Kennedy School and 375 years of Harvard. It gives me a chance to say thank you, and I mean that most sincerely.
Dean Ellwood has asked me here to say more than thank you. He would like me to share my "wisdom and insight" with the students here, the next generation of world leaders as he calls you.
Well, the best practical insight I can share is this: study hard, think hard and argue hard about what the teachers and case studies are saying. You never know when ideas forged in such engagement will come in handy later. Stock up on as many as you can. You won't have an opportunity like this again.
Right! I've done what I wanted to do and I've done what I've been asked to do, so we can relax now and I can tell you a few stories.
The stories I'd like to tell you are about Hong Kong and China.
Some of you may know that this year is also an important anniversary for China – it is the 100th anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty and ended millennia of dynastic rule.
One hundred years ago today, Sun Yat-sen, the man most closely associated with that event, was making his way back home to China from the United States. He had been here in the US trying to raise funds for further attempts at revolt in Southern China. He was in Denver when news reached him that the revolution had started without him on the 10th of October in Wuhan, a city in the conservative centre of China.
At one level you can read that as a lesson on the need for humility: that those who seek to lead events must accept that, often, the event leads them. But, at another level, it is a reminder of the power of ideas to move men to action well beyond the reach of those who had the ideas.
The idea that inspired Sun Yat-sen was a vision of good government. He had seen some sign of it during his years as a student in Hong Kong.
As a mechanism to establish decent laws and administer them decently – or in John Adams' words "a government of laws, not of men" – Sun Yat-sen saw good government as having fundamental social value. It creates a framework within which individuals and families can go about their lives and business with less fear, less frustration, greater possibility of mutual trust and benefit.
In his day, Sun Yat-sen saw the value of good government clearly. So did many thousands of other young men and women from China who came to America - some to Harvard – in the years before 1911. So do many millions of young people across North Africa and the Middle East today.
But, don't think that Sun Yat-sen and his companions valued government above people. He would, I believe, have accepted the view of an early Harvard graduate, Samuel Seward, who said that "Liberty is in real value next only to life"
But, he shared an understanding that had developed through human experience: that in order for each citizen to enjoy liberty, not just the strong or the wealthy, it is necessary for men to become citizens by
placing themselves under government.
An idea of good government was not all that Sun Yat-sen took from Hong Kong. He and his contemporaries were strongly influenced by the fact that Hong Kong – like many other major ports and cities in China at the time – was under foreign control which brings me the more recent story of China and Hong Kong.
This story is about how the reproach of foreign control over part of China was resolved in a way that respected China's sovereignty; respected the unique character of Hong Kong; and, respected the responsibility of Hong Kong's people to sustain their city. My life, my career in government, has been part of this story.
Hong Kong was memorably described by Deng Xiaoping as "A problem left over from history". What I hope will long be remembered is the manner in which that problem was resolved peacefully and transformed into benefit for the people of Hong Kong and China.
In his great speech in favour of conciliation with the American colonies before the revolution here, Edmund Burke said that "Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom".
He was not heeded at the time. History is full of examples of national or personal pride taking precedence over prudence. But, the cases when magnanimity wins through are to be cherished.
The settlement on Hong Kong is one such a case. It allowed the city to return to China while retaining its own distinct way of life and systems.
National pride and unity demanded a resumption of sovereignty: magnanimity allowed the different way of life in Hong Kong to be taken as something of value to be preserved – and allowed to flourish.
The foundations of that different way of life were underwritten by the Basic Law of Hong Kong. Having assurance of these foundations, on July 1, 1997, seven million people – that's more than the recorded population of the United States in 1776 – could face the future with confidence and hope.
Hope has taken a hammering so far in this new millennium, not just in Hong Kong but all around the world. The relentless waves of financial turmoil; the dissolution of old patterns of employment and social relations under the influence of technology and globalisation; the evidence of man's mounting impact on the functioning of the planet that sustains us; the spread of terrorism and hatred – these all feed an atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity.
Men and women who thought of themselves as middle-class are joining the poor, not just in the developing world but in the heart of our developed cities. In the words of protestors in Tel Aviv, they are having to "fight for an accessible future".
Once more we hear the echo of Emerson, that "Things are in the saddle and ride mankind" rather than we feeling that we are the masters of our fate. Uncertainty, insecurity, loss of economic hope, widening inequality, these breed loss of trust in the institution of government. That loss of trust gives ground for the grammar of discord to displace the grammar of discourse.
These changes in the environment within which government must be exercised affect us all. In some ways Hong Kong has had an easier time over the past decade than many other economies. Our freedom from public debt, our position beside China's growing economy, our prudent banking supervision–these have all helped to cushion us from some of the shocks that have come our way.
But, as a small, open economy, our city is open to the rise and fall of financial markets and the swirling changes of the global economy. Patterns of employment and of income distribution have been changing fast. Experiments have become urgent to find new ways of making our living in the world – and as city dwellers we, too, are having to re-learn how to live together successfully amid all the contending rhythms of this strange new world of ours.
Much has been made of the billions that Hong Kong is pouring into the infrastructure of railways and road links to the mainland, the facilities for new industries and the foundations for a new cultural district.
I don't want to down-play the importance of these physical developments for present employment and future prospects. However, I'd like to stress some other endeavours, ones less visible to the eye but no less fundamental.
Amid the economic gyrations of the past decade we've been trying to see through reforms in education. The aim of these reforms is to endow citizens, not simply train factors of production.
The President of this University, Drew Faust, in her inaugural address in 2007, put the point very well. She spoke of "learning that moulds a lifetime ...... learning that shapes the future," I share her conviction absolutely.
We are not just preparing to build new museums and cultural venues. We are trying to encourage the human capacity that allows every citizen to be touched and inspired by art; to reach out in their minds to the world; to ensure that the heritage of our city, seen and unseen, is held in remembrance.
These things matter to the life of any society. They provide a common point of reference to help us talk, learn and live together amicably.
We are trying to ensure that our banks and financial markets remain healthy and open. These institutions have value. But, that value emerges where they are governed to serve society, not where they take licence to subvert it.
Now, pause for a moment and think about the kind of issues we are having to tackle, and the actions we are taking. Are they problems in relations with the Mainland of China? No! Are we constrained in how we act by Mainland officials? No!
Standing in counter-point to the story of economic uncertainty over the past fourteen years is the story of the continued growth of Hong Kong as a unique, remarkable society. It's the story of "One Country, Two Systems" at work – and working well.
Looked at from the perspective of the little region of Hong Kong with its seven million people, what is happening in the Mainland with its 1.3 billion people seems a bit daunting.
Ask Hong Kong students what they think about Mainland students in our universities and they worry about them working harder and having a more international outlook.
But then turn things around. Ask the mainland students what they think. They say that Hong Kong students have broader horizons and higher
aspirations!
Look at Hong Kong's financial regulations. Maintaining global access to, and trust in, Hong Kong's financial, investment and insurance markets matters greatly to us. It also matters deeply to the Mainland as it continues to reform and liberalise its own financial systems.
Look at our legal system. Sustaining and developing the common law tradition in our courts matters to each resident of Hong Kong and matters for Hong Kong's participation in the international economy. It does more. It sustains Hong Kong's ability to help serve the Mainland's integration into the world economy.
Visiting the city earlier this year, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang reflected on the significance of Hong Kong maintaining its separate system. He spoke of Hong Kong's "irreplaceable role in China's reform, opening up and modernisation drive".
Maintaining the distinctiveness of Hong Kong's system is a key emphasis of the Basic Law. That law is not just Hong Kong's constitutional document: it stands as a statement of China's national policy. By establishing clearly Hong Kong's position as part of one country while retaining a separate system, the Basic Law renewed Hong Kong's role in the history of China's transformation.
Today, Hong Kong and China have a combined investment of over $800 billion US dollars in each other's economies – that is a huge investment in each other' s future.
On almost any street in Hong Kong today you will find visitors from the Mainland. Some have come for business, others to shop, others to enjoy the city. All take back home with them some idea of how Hong Kong works.
Moving the other way, Hong Kong people are visiting and working in China in ever larger numbers each year. We are also working closely with adjoining Guangdong province to pilot reform measures that the Central Government can then consider for wider adoption across the country.
Put this all together and you see a huge investment of people, money and ideas to help shape a decent future for the citizens of Hong Kong, and of China.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have no crystal ball in which to see how exactly Hong Kong's future history will be written. But, I have trust in the capacity of the citizens of Hong Kong to keep writing a good history.
I also have conviction in the responsibility of every man and woman – in whatever circumstances, whether called to work on a public stage or just to act among family and friends – to try the best to do justice and live peaceably with our neighbours. That is the backbone on which our societies and our prospects as communities depend.
For all of you here called to public service, I can think of no better place to hone your skills and refine your purpose than here at the Kennedy School. The world will definitely change around you. Yet the lessons you learn here will endure indefinitely.
Each of you has had experiences in your home towns that have inspired you to service. I hope that some of you may find inspiration in the story of my home town. I trust that each of you will cause stories to be written that will inspire generations to come. Perhaps some of you may even venture to Hong Kong to become part of our narrative. History has not ended. Each generation has opportunity to write new chapters. Get writing!
Ends/Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Issued at HKT 08:31
NNNN