On July 1, Hong Kong would be taken over by the People's Republic of China, and it appeared, as Mr. Lien phrases it, that Peking had been "violating the spirit of the law"--that is, their agreement with the British--over certain legislative functions that Hong Kong was supposed to have retained. Furthermore, it had been just a little over a year since Peking had lobbed a few missiles in the direction of Taiwan. Mr. Lien is too prudent to be as informative as he might be (WFB: "Well, I agree with you, but my question is, In the event that Beijing does not live up to these promises, is there any formal way in which you can protest that development? Do you have any sanctions in mind?" LC: "We have not considered that aspect of development yet. But if they do violate their pledge, I think it will have very important chilling implications over the peace and security issues in this area"), but he is an impressive figure, and he does bring us up to date on the Republic of China's solution to the problem posed by the "One China" policy: "We believe that China certainly should be one, but unfortunately it is a divided nation. It is now divided into two political entities. Therefore, as a political sovereign state, the Republic of China on Taiwan is entitled to enjoy a comprehensive system of rights ... befitting any sovereign state in the world."