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politics thereof. From the perspective of the vast bureaucratic
establishment of the Chinese state Hong Kong is neither strictly
a domestic nor a foreign affairs matter. It does not fall within
the administrative jurisdiction of the State's domestic
organizations and, despite it being negotiated with Britain, as
a territory technically claimed to be within Chinese sovereignty
involving Chinese compatriots, Hong Kong does not fall within the
purview of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs either. Moreover,
unlike Taiwan, Hong Kong has not occupied a prominent position
in the consciousness of China's leaders continuously since 1949.
It should also be recalled that Hong Kong was first raised as an
issue by the British and not by the Chinese. Before the British
raised it in 1979, the Chinese appeared content to leave matters
as they were. In fact there was no sign that in changing their
approach to Taiwan in December 1978 (as a consequence of the
United States changing its diplomatic recognition of the Chinese
state from Taipei to Beijing) that China's leaders gave any
thought to the Hong Kong question. But it was only early in the
following year when the British broached the question with them
(because the time limit on territory affected by the expiry of
the Lease in 1997 affected accountants, insurers and so on) that
it occurred to Deng Xiaoping and his colleagues that the Hong
Kong issue might be settled in line with the new approach, but
in advance of Taiwan.
Initially a small team under the leadership of Liao Chengzhi
(a prominent Beijing based politician who was well connected with
the overseas Chinese and the Japanese who was also well trusted