Speeches, etc.

Margaret Thatcher

Speech opening the Lantau Link (Hong Kong)

Document type: Speeches, interviews, etc.
Venue: Hong Kong
Source: Thatcher Archive: speaking notes
Editorial comments:
Importance ranking: Minor
Word count: 610

Chris PattenGovernor, Chief Secretary, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted and honoured to have been invited to open the Lantau Link. Truly it is one of the world's most spectacular engineering feats. And the extent of the ceremony today—the sea parade, the land parade, the car procession and the fireworks—is on a scale which does justice to this great achievement. [end p1]

The qualities of the people of a city are so often revealed by the things they choose to build around them. There could be no better symbol of the boldness, the vision, and the energy of the people of Hong Kong than the Tsing Ma Bridge.

The Lantau Link will be the artery connecting Hong Kong to its superb new airport—which will itself dramatically improve Hong Kong's links with the rest of the world. [end p2]

Millions of visitors to Hong Kong will travel across it. It will provide an impressive and inspiring entrance to this modern city. And it will serve Hong Kong people, by linking the new town at Tung Chung with the Kowloon peninsular.

But the Tsing Ma Bridge is much more than that: it is also a structure of style and beauty, a towering landmark for Hong Kong. [end p3]

Moreover, this bridge—like all bridges—has a wider significance. Standing here, at Hong Kong's gateway to the world, it is a visible sign of what Hong Kong represents, a rare and fruitful combination of diverse talents and cultures.

The concept for this project came from Hong Kong. But in typical Hong Kong fashion it has been a truly international venture. You have drawn on the best engineering and [end p4] construction skills the world has to offer. The main deck of the bridge, was built in Britain and Japan—but assembled just across the border in China. Now there's an example of cooperation in the interests of Hong Kong!

So let me pay tribute to all those involved in this project—from the earliest days on the drawing board through to its completion today. [end p5]

Architects, consultants, engineers, contractors, financiers, civil servants. You have done a marvellous job.

You have built one of the engineering wonders of the world—the longest road and rail bridge, with a main span longer than the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I am told that the cables alone would stretch from Government House to the Star Ferry in Kowloon. Just as [end p6] important, you have done it on time and within budget. From my own experience in Government, I know that things do not invariably turn out like that—except in Hong Kong.

With the opening of the bridge today, Hong Kong is establishing new ties with the other great bridge cities of the world, from San Francisco to Sydney. As with those cities, I have no doubt that it is only a matter of time before this bridge [end p7] imprints itself firmly in people's minds as the image of Hong Kong.

The bridge which we are opening today is not an isolated endeavour. It's a vital part of the programme which will provide Hong Kong with the world's most modern airport; a new railway; a new tunnel across the harbour; a new town; and a massive new expanse of land in the Kowloon peninsula and in Central. [end p8]

Each one of these ventures would be impressive enough in its own right. But together they represent a powerful expression of confidence in the future. Only cities in the ascendant build on this scale.

Achievement and progress are in the soul of this land and her people. This bridge is an enormous tribute to your vigour and determination. It displays the unceasing imagination of modern Hong Kong. So to those [end p9] who venture to question whether Hong Kong will succeed and prosper in the years ahead let us say “Come, see this bridge, one of the foremost monuments of our time, and put your confidence in the people who built it” . Our thanks and congratulations.