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Declaration, what happens?
Britain can have two
options One is to have a showdown with Beijing, saying that she is still responsible for Hong Kong's administration for the next twelve years and Beijing need not be consulted. Britain can go ahead with major constitutional reforms and will not be made responsible for Hong Kong's future political stability or prosperity after she is gone. Another option is to remain helpful to the end and to consult Beijing on relevant matters to anable a smooth transfer of government. After 1997, Hong Kong will still be a prosperous place and China will be so gratified that she will reward Britain with corresponding benefits
in return.
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If she chooses
Britain is a most scrupulous country adept at foreign relations. The merits and demerits of the two options are immediately discernible. the first option, she will henceforth have to pay a price by adopting a hardline attitude in foreign relations and try hard to support the British-style system of "HongKong people ruling Hong Kong" which was engineered, masterminded and cooked up by the British themselves from the outset. Besides, Britain cannot
afford to fail because to do so would make her lose face and expose her weakness before the world. Diplomacy must, therefore, be backed up by strength. To fight China to the bitter end, Britain must first assess her own strength. Knowing full well that sovereignty rests in China's hands, Britain should find it against all reason and her own interests to take Hong Kong's affairs into her own hands by mapping out the territory's future political system. She will not find it worthwhile to insist on designing a political
/system