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SINO-BRITISH NEGOTIATIONS OVER THE TRANSFER OF HONG KONG:
PROBLEMS OF PERCEPTIONS, ORGANIZATION AND POLITICAL
CULTURE1
by Michal Yahman
The current Sino-British dispute
dispute arising out of the
proposals for political reform by the Hong Kong Governor, Chris
Patten, can only be properly understood against the backcloth of
distrust, misperceptions and conflicts of political culture that
have dogged the Sino-British negotiations over the future of Hong
Kong since they were formally begun more than ten years ago.
Despite having reached agreement about the future of Hong Kong
in the Joint Declaration of 1984 and notwithstanding subsequent
agreements that were also proclaimed by both sides as highly
satisfactory, the negotiations themselves have continued to be
marked by distrust.
The Chinese suspect a long standing British design to run
away with the surplus capital of Hong Kong and to leave the
territory in disarray with an influential pro-British group.
Indeed since the Tiananmen events of 1989 and the collapse of
Communism elsewhere China's leaders have suspected that the
British are in league with others in seeking to subvert Communist
rule in their country. For their part the British side has
perceived the Chinese leaders as ill-informed and brutal in their
1
The research and interviewing on which this article is based was made possible by a grant from the Nuffield Foundation.
1