    This important and special ceremony marks moments of both change and continuity in Hong Kong's history. It marks, first of all, the restoration of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, under the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, after more than 150 years of British administration. 
    This ceremony also celebrates continuity because, by that same treaty and the many subsequent agreements, which have been made to implement its provisions, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will have its own government, and retain its own society, its own economy and its own way of life. I should like to pay tribute this evening to those who turned the concept of "one country, two systems" into the Joint Declaration, and to the dedication and commitment of those who have worked so hard over the last thirteen years to negotiate the details of the Joint Declaration's implementation. But most of all I should like to pay tribute to the people of Hong Kong themselves for all that they have achieved in the last century and a half. The triumphant success of Hong Kong demands and deserves to be maintained. 
