7
stopped at the international boundary after their victory in the
Chinese civil war. Thereafter a curious arrangement emerged in
which the Chinese government consistently claimed the whole of
Hong Kong as Chinese territory and refused to acknowledge the
validity of the treaties on which British rule was based while
at the same time it did not challenge Britain's colonial
administration in practice. The Chinese government argued that
it would regain the territory when conditions were ripe. To this
end the Chinese government immediately removed Hong Kong for the
list of colonies in the De-colonisation Committee of the United
Nations upon resuming its seat in 1972. The British too did not
challenge the status quo for example by preparing Hong Kong for
an act of self-determination.
The first step to alter the arrangement was taken by the
British side. The expiry of the New Territory's lease on 30 June
1997 provided the impetus to explore matters with the Chinese as
the remaining 8 percent of Hong Kong's land area which had been
ceded in perpetuity had become so deeply integrated with the rest
that it was not viable by itself. The initial enquiries had been
made by accountants, insurers and the like as most leases were
for fifteen years. The British side rejected the idea of making
a unilateral alteration in the terms of the lease, by say an
order in Council, as it would risk evoking a hostile reaction
from the Chinese side that could have unpredictable consequences.
Thus the then Governor (now) Lord Maclehose raised the issue with
Deng Xiaoping when he visited Beijing in 1979. He returned to say
that Deng had provided reassurances by telling investors that