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It should also be noted that these negotiations
exclusively a British concern. Unlike the conduct of the bulk of
its foreign relations, these negotiations have not involved the
complexities of multilateral dealings with European or Atlantic
allies, nor have they required the involvement of a broad range
of domestic economic and political interests that have become a
regular feature of Britain's
Consequently, they have not attracted the kind of public debate
and scrutiny (comparatively mild as that may be) that has become
a regular feature of foreign policy. In fact the negotiations
have been conducted in the main by a relatively small team of
officials drawn from, or
located in, the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office.
international
negotiations.
Yet after ten years of almost uninterrupted negotiations
in which the two sides have reached several important agreements
and when both recognize the need to cooperate still further it
is nevertheless true that relations between the two sides are
still marked by distrust and misunderstandings. The most senior
Chinese leaders suspect Britain of seeking to grab Hong Kong's
capital and of conspiring to leave the territory in disarray and
as a base for subverting the Communist system on the mainland.
Privately, they regard as lies and hypocrisy British
protestations of being motivated by a sense of moral obligation
to the people of Hong Kong. It is said that senior British
negotiators have privately likened their opposite numbers to
gangsters and street fighters whose primary concern is political