Thatcher: Fears about HK proved groundless

British f ormer PM Margaret Thatcher

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has said her fears that Hong Kong's economy could not prosper after the handover have proved to be largely groundless .

She said she has not been disappointed by Hong Kong's development since Britain handed over the former colony to China a decade ago.

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"I think we must be realistic," Thatcher said in an interview broadcast Tuesday by British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"Let's think over a moment how great our private worries were about what would happen in Hong Kong after the handover. Now those worries have largely proved groundless."

Britain formally withdrew from Hong Kong on June 30, 1997.

Thatcher, who was prime minister when the deal on Hong Kong's future was signed in 1984, said the "one country, two systems" principle devised by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was the key to an agreement about the colony.

"'One country, two systems' was developed some years earlier as an approach to the issue of Taiwan." Thatcher said, adding the practice at first did not seem to her as the way ahead for Hong Kong.

"What I wanted was a continuation of British administration. But when this proved impossible I saw the opportunity to preserve most of what was unique about Hong Kong by applying Mr. Deng's idea to our circumstances.

Thatcher, 81, has made few public comments or appearances since suffering a series of strokes five years ago. This month, however, she taped a message to British forces to mark the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War with Argentina, as well as being interviewed by the BBC.

英国前首相玛格丽特·撒切尔说，她对香港回归后经济能否繁荣的担忧现在看来是没什么理由的。

撒切尔夫人说，自从十年前英国将香港的主权交还中国后，她对香港的发展一直都没有失望过。

在本周二英国广播公司播出的一个访谈节目中，撒切尔说：“我认为我们必须要现实点。”

“我们想想，我们曾经多么担忧香港回归后的发展。但现在看来，那些担心几乎都被证明是没什么根据的。”

1997年6月30日，英国正式从香港撤出。

1984年中英签订关于香港问题的联合声明时，撒切尔夫人任英国首相。她说，中国前国家领导人邓小平提出的“一国两制”方针是中英在香港问题上达成一致的关键。

撒切尔夫人说：“‘一国两制’的方针在中英谈判前的几年就已经被提出来了，但当时这是中国解决台湾问题的思路。”她说，起初她并不认同这一方针是香港问题的解决之道。

“我所想的是‘续约’（即继续英国在香港的统治）。但这不可能，于是我想到将邓小平先生的思想应用于我们的实情，这可以使香港保持其大部分的特色。”

今年81岁的撒切尔夫人五年前数次中风后，就很少露面或发表公开言论。然而，为了庆祝与阿根廷的马岛战役胜利25周年，本月她为英国军队进行了讲话录音；当然，还包括这次接受BBC的采访。

Vocabulary:

groundless:having no ground or foundation; unsubstantiated（没根据的；毫无理由的）