Study On British Foreign Policy Towards Hong Kong During Thatcher Administration(1982-1984)

Since the end of the First Opium War in1984and the Second Opium War in1860, the humiliating Qing Government of China condescended to the great power of the British Empire and was compelled to sign three unequal treaties.(Namely, the Treaty of Nanjing, the First Convention of Beijing and the Second Convention of Beijing). Afterwards, Britain began to rule Hong Kong for more than a century. With the end of the Second World War, the colonial system of the British Empire gradually collapsed. Though Britain acknowledged the People’s Republic of China in1950, the issue of Hong Kong was still the core question which impeded the normal development of the bilateral relations between the two countries. The Sino-British negotiation on the Hong Kong issue was not put on track until1980s and the time from1979when the Thatcher Government came into power to look into the Hong Kong issue to1984when the Sino-British Joint Declaration was officially signed became the crucial period, which determined the development of bilateral relations and Hong Kong’s own status in the future.This paper adopts the method of history analysis to review the developmental process of British policy towards Hong Kong. The research is mainly based on extensive primary sources of the newly declassified documents of the Prime Minister Office on the future of Hong Kong from British National Archives in London. This paper approaches the development of British government negotiation tactics and stands by analyzing many telegrams sent to Hong Kong and Beijing, cabinet meeting discussions as well as Foreign&Commonwealth Office correspondence papers, in particular, orders sent by the Prime Minster Thatcher to the British Foreign Secretary and the head of the British negotiation delegation. In the meantime, the paper uses the literature analysis to collect and review related published British and Chinese secondary literature on the handover of Hong Kong in recent years so as to contribute to the research on the Hong Kong issue in domestic academia.The Sino-British negotiation on Hong Kong lasted from1982to1984, during which British foreign policy underwent a series of changes. The British first jettisoned sovereignty to move from preliminary discussions to formal negotiations, and then backed away from demands for a continued administration presence. In the final stages, the British government was compelled to agree to withdraw after1997and came to the agreement with China in many details of the Hong Kong society. This paper is based on the1982-1984Sino-British negotiation on Hong Kong and analyses the formation of British policy towards Hong Kong during Thatcher Government. Specifically, British considerations of its policy on the handover of Hong Kong in the final stages in1984are studied.In addition, this paper analyzes British diplomatic achievement during the Thatcher government from the perspectives of ensuring the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and maximizing British national interests. The research shows that under the circumstances of weak jurisprudential evidence and social reasoning, the British attempted to challenge China in the areas of political reforms, democratic rights and the high degree of autonomy of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong in the final stages of the negotiation. The issue of "democratic elections" even foreshadowed the recent demonstrations of "Occupy Central" and the controversy of "universal suffrage" in Hong Kong, which reflects the typical features of British Colonial Empire’s withdrawal in maximizing its interests. From the perspective of realism, the proper solution of the Hong Kong issue by the two countries is absolutely meaningful in safeguarding British national interests and the long-term Sino-British relations. It also provides precious experience in solving conflicts among nations and problems left from history.This dissertation concludes that, British policy towards Hong Kong during Thatcher government is both firm and conciliatory, and it reflects the pragmatic and flexible characteristics of Thatcher’s foreign policy as a result of four reasons, namely, the rational assessment of British international power and domestic situation, pressure from the Chinese position, pragmatic concern of the attitudes from the international society, and British weak account of the opinions from Hong Kong. Besides, the Sino-British negotiation was carried out under the principle of China’s plan, though the British made concessions on sovereignty and administration in succession, these concessions in fact broke through some important barriers of the negotiation and ensured British own interests. The contents of guaranteeing the high degree of autonomy and democratic rights of the Hong Kong society in the Sino-British Joint Declaration was well received by the international society, which could be regarded as the best diplomatic achievement the British could possibly gain when its stance was at a disadvantage in the negotiation with China.