22
sought to bring pressure to bear by selective leaks and by being
less bound by confidentiality. In short both sets of negotiators
have found their encounters to be difficult, and at times,
bruising experiences.
it
Perhaps because they have to deal with the practical issues,
is nevertheless interesting that when asked, leading
negotiators on both sides tend to downplay the significance of
perceptions and possible misunderstandings. For example, Anthony
Galsworthy (head of the British side of the Joint Liaison Group)
argues that differences and difficulties stem from conflicts of
interest and the character of the Chinese political system. 13
William Ehrman (the Political Adviser to the Governor) also
claims that Ji Pengfei (the former Foreign Minister and former
Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Office of the State Council
and current member of the Central Committee Foreign Affairs
Leading Group) denied that anything other than a conflict of
interest was involved. Lu Ping (the Director of the Hong Kong
and Macau Office) argued that the difference between the two
sides was that the British had a "short term interest up until
1997", whereas the Chinese had a "long term interest in the
situation after 1997".15 These negotiators may well have been
right to draw
draw attention to the differences in Sino-British
interests, but at the time these paled into insignificance in
13
21/7/92.
14
Interview with Anthony Galsworthy, Hong Kong
14
Interview with William Ehrman, Hong Kong 24/7/92.
15
Author's interview with Lu Ping 7 August 1992.