(22 May 1997) English/Nat
The governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, said farewell to his London staff on Thursday - little more than five weeks before Hong Kong is handed over to China.
Patten said he'd done his best for the people of the territory - and called on Beijing to respect their desire for democracy.
There was a curiously end-of-empire feeling to it all.
Chris Patten is one of the more cheerful politicians on the international circuit, but he looked glum, almost downcast, as he faced the media.
Yet he insisted he was optimistic about the future of Hong Kong after it's handed over to China at the end of next month:
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"People in Hong Kong care about their freedoms, and they're prepared to speak out about their freedoms. And that's one of the reasons why, when I leave Hong Kong, I will do so as an optimist about the future rather than a pessimist. Not a gung-ho optimist, not an optimist who doesn't recognise some of the problems and difficulties, but someone who believes that on balance Hong Kong will build on the success of the last few years, and that Hong Kong - in the words of one of the greatest newspapers in the world - is a slice of the future."
SUPER CAPTION: Chris Patten, Governor of Hong Kong
Patten's hard-line negotiating tactics with the Chinese appeared to have backfired badly during his term as governor.
Some fear the result may be that Beijing will be less tolerant of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong than would otherwise have been the case.
But Patten made this final appeal to the Chinese leadership:
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"To trust the people of Hong Kong. I think that the best ways of securing Hong Kong's success in the future are, first of all, to safeguard Hong Kong's autonomy, and secondly, to relax about Hong Kong and to let Hong Kong get on with doing things in its usual successful way."
SUPER CAPTION: Chris Patten, Governor of Hong Kong
Patten declined a reporter's call to compose his own political epitaph - but made clear he felt history should judge him favourably:
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I hope that people will feel that I did my best to stand by the promises made in 1994 in the Joint Declaration (between Britain and China). What they will know is that Hong Kong in 1997 is a very successful community indeed, and I think the latest poll by the Transitional Project shows that about 9 out of 10 people are happy with life in Hong Kong, and about three quarters of them are happy with the government."
SUPER CAPTION: Chris Patten, Governor of Hong Kong
Patten heads back to Hong Kong to the final phase of his term as governor, helping to bring down the curtain on Britain's last colonial act in Asia.
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