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. "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. 點擊查看更多雙語新聞 (AP)

英國前首相瑪格麗特·撒切爾說，她對香港回歸后經濟能否繁榮的擔憂現在看來是沒什么理由的。 撒切爾夫人說，自從十年前英國將香港的主權交還中國后，她對香港的發展一直都沒有失望過。 在本周二英國廣播公司播出的一個訪談節目中，撒切爾說：“我認為我們必須要現實點。” “我們想想，我們曾經多么擔憂香港回歸后的發展。但現在看來，那些擔心幾乎都被證明是沒什么根據的。” 1997年6月30日，英國正式從香港撤出。 1984年中英簽訂關于香港問題的聯合聲明時，撒切爾夫人任英國首相。她說，中國前國家領導人鄧小平提出的“一國兩制”方針是中英在香港問題上達成一致的關鍵。 撒切爾夫人說：“‘一國兩制’的方針在中英談判前的幾年就已經被提出來了，但當時這是中國解決臺灣問題的思路。”她說，起初她并不認同這一方針是香港問題的解決之道。 “我所想的是‘續約’（即繼續英國在香港的統治）。但這不可能，于是我想到將鄧小平先生的思想應用于我們的實情，這可以使香港保持其大部分的特色。” 今年81歲的撒切爾夫人五年前數次中風后，就很少露面或發表公開言論。然而，為了慶祝與阿根廷的馬島戰役勝利25周年，本月她為英國軍隊進行了講話錄音；當然，還包括這次接受BBC的采訪。 （英語點津姍姍編輯）