In the autumn of 1992, Hong Kong's future hung in the balance, and Sino-British relations were suddenly strained. With Patten's constitutional reform package, the United Kingdom tried to tighten its grip on Hong Kong in the final years. However, the hidden concerns behind it are not known. In a conference room at Buckingham Palace, the United Kingdom's top government debated a pressing question: Would China take Hong Kong by force if it acted earlier?
The New Territories lease issue was the first contact between China and the UK
In 1979, with the expiry of the Extension of Hong Kong's Boundary Clause, United Kingdom felt an unprecedented urgency for Hong Kong's future. That year, Hong Kong's Governor-General MacLehose was ordered by the United Kingdom government to travel to Beijing for the express purpose of extending the lease to the New Territories and ensuring that United Kingdom's interests in this strategic location were maintained.
MacLeho arrived in Beijing with carte blanche from the United Kingdom government and a series of negotiating proposals. He arrived to persuade the Chinese government to accept the extension of the lease through diplomatic channels. MacLehose's negotiations in Beijing consisted of a number of meetings and informal engagements, each of which revolved around a central issue: the future of leases in the New Territories.
During the talks, MacLeho sought to emphasise the importance of extending the lease to Hong Kong's stability and the interests of the United Kingdom, elaborating on the economic and social instability that could arise if the lease was not extended. But Chinese officials on the other side, including Mr. Deng, were not convinced of such arguments. The Chinese response was firm and unequivocal, and Deng Xiaoping himself was even more direct in rejecting all British proposals.
During the talks, Deng Xiaoping emphasized a basic state policy – that Hong Kong has been part of Chinese territory since ancient times, and that any proposal to extend the lease would be an infringement of China's sovereignty. He mentioned that there is no room for negotiation on the issue of China's sovereignty over Hong Kong, emphasizing the Chinese government's determination to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong.
After the talks, he had to return to Hong Kong to report the failure of this diplomatic effort to the United Kingdom government. When the United Kingdom government received this news, it realized that its strategy on Hong Kong needed to be reassessed.
Patten's political reform plan has friction with China and Britain
With the advent of the 1990s, Hong Kong's political scene and relations between China and Britain ushered in new upheavals. Chris Patten became governor of Hong Kong in 1992 and soon after taking office proposed a controversial constitutional reform package in his first "Policy Address for Hong Kong". The proposal, which advocates an increase in the number of directly elected members of Hong Kong's Legislative Council, appears to be a step forward in the democratic process, but is seen as a strategy to strengthen the influence of pro-British forces in Hong Kong politics.
The plan proposes that Hong Kong's political system could be made more open and democratic by increasing the number of directly elected members, but the motivation and potential impact behind this move quickly became a hot topic. Political commentators and people in Hong Kong widely wonder whether this is the United Kingdom's strategy to contain China by expanding its influence on the eve of Hong Kong's handover.
At this time, the Chinese government reacted strongly to Patten's political reform plan and quickly expressed its solemn position. China believes that this plan violates the agreement on the stability of Hong Kong's political system in the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed by the two governments in 1984, which was intended to ensure a smooth transition after Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997, and any unilateral attempt to change the political landscape is seen as undermining this international agreement.
China's Foreign Ministry reacted quickly by publicly criticizing Patten's political reform proposal. At a number of international and regional forums, the Chinese representative stressed that any decision on Hong Kong's future should be jointly negotiated by China and the UK, and that China's sovereignty over Hong Kong should be fully respected. In particular, the Chinese government noted that such a move seeks to weaken China's right to control Hong Kong in the future and could lead to greater division and instability in Hong Kong society.
Tensions and talks between the top levels of the Chinese and British governments
Regarding Patten's political reform plan, the attitude in United Kingdom is not uniform. While Mr. Patten confidently rolled out the reform plan in an attempt to push Hong Kong through a transition to a "United Kingdom-style democracy," many officials at the top of the United Kingdom government expressed concern. In November 1992, Paulina · Neville-Jones, an official at the Cabinet Office's Secretariat for Defence and Overseas Affairs, a core organ of the United Kingdom government, presented a report to Prime Minister John · Major.
In particular, the report stresses that Patten's proposal, which appears to be promoting democracy in Hong Kong, is in fact undermining the consensus of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. In his report, Neville-Jones warned that if this plan continues, the United Kingdom needs to be prepared to deal with military moves by the Chinese side, which could even lead to a deterioration in diplomatic relations.
In the same month, faced with this dire situation, the top of the United Kingdom government acted quickly. The Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary and other key government officials gathered at Buckingham Palace for an emergency meeting. The meeting focused on discussing Patten's political reform proposal, and in particular its potential consequences in Sino-British relations.
At the meeting, senior United Kingdom officials also discussed another key issue: the possibility that China could use force to recover Hong Kong. Although the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 was already on the agenda of the international community, Patten's actions undoubtedly complicated the situation. Some officials at the meeting feared that if the United Kingdom proceeded with the program, it could lead to tougher measures by China, including armed intervention. This concern is not unfounded, and China has expressed its serious stance on Hong Kong's political reform on several occasions, stressing that it will not tolerate any act that undermines Hong Kong's stability and the spirit of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
Contradictions and concerns about United Kingdom's China policy
The United Kingdom government does have significant differences on how to deal with Hong Kong. On the one hand, some officials strongly support Patten's political reform plan, believing it to be the last chance for United Kingdom to maintain its influence in Hong Kong. They argue that such a constitutional reform is of positive significance to Hong Kong's future development and can ensure that Hong Kong will remain independent and pluralistic in its political system after the handover.
At the heart of this view is that United Kingdom, as the long-term ruler of Hong Kong, must leave its own political legacy in Hong Kong's future, and cannot completely abandon its influence in Hong Kong after 1997. They believe that without deeper intervention in Hong Kong's political structure before the handover, pro-British forces will quickly lose ground after 1997 and all United Kingdom control over Hong Kong will come to naught.
On the other hand, however, many senior officials within the United Kingdom government have expressed strong concerns about this approach. They argue that Patten's political reform plan not only violates the spirit of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, but could also provoke China with unpredictable consequences. According to the previous agreement between China and the UK, Hong Kong's political system should remain stable during the transition period and should not undergo major changes.
Especially when it comes to relations with China, these officials fear that Patten's political reform plan will provoke a strong reaction from China and may even lead to a general deterioration in relations between the two countries. China has repeatedly made it clear that any attempt to change the political status quo in Hong Kong would be seen as a challenge to China's sovereignty. These officials believe that rather than risk aggravating Sino-British relations, it is better to maintain the existing political arrangements to ensure a smooth transition in 1997.
The smooth return of Hong Kong to China's policy commitments
Despite significant disagreements between China and the UK over Hong Kong's future status, the Chinese government has made it clear from the outset that Hong Kong's prosperity and stability are one of China's core concerns.
China has come up with an unprecedented and innovative policy in dealing with Hong Kong, namely "one country, two systems". The core idea of this policy is that after Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, Hong Kong will continue to maintain its original capitalist economic system and way of life under the premise of one China, and enjoy a high degree of autonomy.
On top of this commitment, China has also specifically pledged that Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy will continue for 50 years, which has given the international community more confidence in Hong Kong's prospects after the handover. At the same time, Hong Kong people are gradually beginning to accept and adapt to this new arrangement. Although there were still some worries and uneasiness at the beginning, with the close communication between the Chinese government and the United Kingdom government, more and more Hong Kong people believe that their lifestyles and economic order will not be severely affected after the handover.
In the Sino-British negotiations, the Chinese government has not only expounded the principle of "one country, two systems", but also put forward a series of safeguards to ensure the smooth implementation of this policy in Hong Kong. For example, the Chinese government has made it clear that Hong Kong's legal system, monetary policy, trade rules, immigration policy, etc. will remain unchanged, and that the socialist system in Chinese mainland will not interfere with Hong Kong's capitalist system. Such a promise is undoubtedly a "reassuring pill" for Hong Kong residents who are worried about the disruption of their lives after the handover.
As June 30, 1997 approached, preparations for the reunification ceremony were also under way in an intense and orderly manner. The arrangements for the reunification ceremony have been carefully planned from the details to the overall situation, and the international community has also paid close attention to them.
At midnight on 30 June 1997, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was lit up with Chinese and British officials and international dignitaries to witness this historic moment. At the solemn ceremony, the United Kingdom flag was slowly lowered, and the regional flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Chinese national flag were raised amid applause and salutes, marking Hong Kong's official return to China.
After the handover, Hong Kong has undergone a transitional period of gradual adaptation. Although at the beginning, there were some uncertainties and doubts about the future of the international community and Hong Kong itself, worried about whether Hong Kong would be able to maintain its status as an international financial center, and whether the Chinese government could truly fulfill its promise of "one country, two systems". But it turns out that the Chinese government's policy towards Hong Kong has been consistent, and Hong Kong's economic and social systems have remained independent, and their way of life has not been significantly affected. Especially at the economic level, Hong Kong continues to play a key role in connecting Chinese mainland with the global market and remains one of the world's most important financial hubs.
References:[1]Sino-British negotiations and the great idea of "one country, two systems"[J].Communist Party Members,2001(12):46-46