}
survival.
6
subsequent political
Perhaps the deepest difference between the
between the British and
Chinese sides centres on the way Hong Kong should be prepared to
exercise the "high degree of autonomy" agreed in the Joint
Declaration. At the early insistence of the Chinese side the
people of Hong Kong were precluded from taking a direct part in
the negotiations. Although the British
British side carried out an
exercise to test popular acceptance of the Joint Declaration and
found it favourable, no mechanism has been found to ascertain the
extent of popular support for the
arrangements made for Hong Kong and its future other than that
mediated by the British or Chinese sides.
sides. As Hong Kong has
developed a greater degree of democracy, especially after the
direct election of 18 members to the 60 seat Legislative Council
in 1991, the territory has rapidly begun to acquire the rudiments
of its own political system. This has occurred precisely at the
time when China's elderly leaders are most concerned about the
survival of their political system. That has heightened their
general suspicion of democracy and has intensified their
objection to some of the popularly elected members of the
legislature as subversives.
With less than five years to go before the transfer of
sovereignty to China on 1st July 1997 the stakes for each side
are enormous. As we have seen, Britain has much to,lose if things
were to go badly. From a Chinese perspective Hong Kong has become
ever more important in both politics and economics. A dramatic