Many Hong Kong citizens said they absolutely uphold "One Country, Two Systems" and patriots governing Hong Kong.

While discussions on the constitutional development of Hong Kong were being carried out in various sectors of the community, Xinhua News Agency on Feb. 19 brought up again the speech made 20 years ago by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping regarding "One Country, Two Systems."

On the day that Hong Kong media published Deng's speech, students from Heung To Middle School were arranged into groups to try to understand the spirit of Deng's speech during the newspaper- reading session in the morning.

Yip Yin-ping, a teacher of the school, said that Deng's speech is still significant, and, if Hong Kong people are all clear about patriotism and Hong Kong being governed by patriots, many problems can be solved.

Mr. Cheung, a vehicle salesperson in Wanchai, said some people do not have a clear understanding of the criteria of who to govern Hong Kong, therefore, it is necessary to review Deng's speech when discussing the constitutional development of Hong Kong.

"Under the concept of 'One Country, Two Systems', 'One Country' should be the prerequisite. As Chinese, we certainly love our country, and we definitely don't want power from other countries to intervene Hong Kong's political development," said Cheung.

"Hong Kong is a part of the motherland, just like we are our parents' children, and there should only be 'One Country'," said a citizen who lives in Causeway Bay.

"We always say that Hong Kong will benefit whenever our country is good," said Mr. Lee, a fitment worker, when being interviewed on the street. Lee said, "We all love our country, when the national flag is raised high, we all feel excited."

Some citizens consider the criteria of patriots set by Deng are loose and most Hong Kong people meet such criteria.

Mr. Lau, who undertakes electronic equipment business, said that, in the past six years, the policy of "One Country, Two Systems" and "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" has been successfully implemented, showing that the central government has fulfilled the promise of letting Hong Kong people govern the city.

Lau said that the concept of "One Country" rather than "Two Systems" should be put first and it gives no cause for criticism of the Chinese mainland to participate in the development of Hong Kong's political development.

(Xinhua News Agency February 29, 2004)