5
of these two countries of such different histories and political
cultures to cooperate for thirteen years about delicate and
uncertain matters as if oblivious to the record of volatility of
the Chinese Communist regime and to the possibilities of radical
change in the external environment.
It should also be noted that these negotiations are
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 international
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 until recently in the main by ministers as
advised by a relatively small team of officials drawn from, or
located in, the Foreign and Commonwealth office.
negotiations.
The principal purpose of this article is to identify the
main difficulties in the negotiations that were evident even
before 1992 SO as to better explore the implications of the
dispute that has erupted as a result of the Patten proposals. The
concern here is less with the substance of the negotiations than
with their conduct. In particular three broad issue areas may be
isolated for discussion: (1) Do either, or both, of the two sides
misunderstand or misperceive the purposes or interests of the