The strategy employed by the British at the Sino-British
talks was most obvious. At first they wanted to exchange sovereignty
for administrative right. But when they found out that they could
not achieve this goal at the conference table, they began to sing praises of Hong Kony's constitution and likened it to a pillar of the territory's prosperity. They demanded that this system be retained and to do so would require the continued presence of
British bureaucrats, thus preserving British influence in Hong Kong
beyond 1997.
However, hardly has the ink on the Sino-British Agreement
dried up than major constitutional reforms began to appear in Hong
Kong. Government power is not returned to China, but to the people. And these people are those groomed and trusted by Britain, those who will work for the diplomatic and economic interests of Britain
after 1997. This development is evident in the provisions for
election by electoral colleges in the constitutional reforms.
Major changes in Hong Kong's political system
When looking at 'constitutional reforms', people usually only see the gradual change from an appointed Legislative Council
to an elected one. They debate on the merits and demerits of direct
and indirect elections, but overlook something far more important.
That is, from a local government administered by officials directly
it, appointed by London and accountable to Hong Kong is fast becoming
an independent political entity whose power comes no more from
London but from certain people in Hong Kong who have the right to
vote in the Legislative Council elections and to influence the
election results. (They are not the entire local population
because both the functional consitituencies and electoral colleges
from the district boards in the Legislative Council elections are
subject to some form of control.)
will only be accountable to these "higher Chinese" who are grateful to the British for promoting them to positions of importance and who act like puppets on a string as a seventy percent strong majority in
the Legislative Council. The Hong Kong government will no longer
In future, the Hongkong government
be accountable to the British Government, or to the Chinese Government
after 1997. While not a country in name, Hong Kong has, in effect, become an independent "nation within a nation".