TNAG-1839-FCO40-2614-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 61

of

S success formula.

After protracted discussion,

however, it became clear that the continuation of British

administration in any form was unacceptable to the

Chinese Government. The only way forward would be to

explore the possibility of negotiating arrangements other

than continued British administration in Hong Kong that

would ensure Hong Kong's future stability and prosperity.

7. Following the Foreign Secretary's visit to Peking in

April 1984, the two sides began to examine how it might

be possible to devise arrangements which would secure for

Hong Kong after 1997 a high degree of autonomy under

Chinese sovereignty: and that would enable Hong Kong,

a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic

of China, to preserve its existing way of life and the

essential elements of its present system which were the

key to its success. A great deal of work was required in

order to turn this concept that of "one country two

systems

"

-

into a written agreement that embodied such

arrangements with sufficient clarity and precision to be

acceptable to the British Government. The Foreign

Secretary paid another visit to Peking in July 1984, at

which further substantial progress was made.

That paved

the way to final agreement: the texts were initialled on

26 September 1984.

III: Consultation with the people of Hong Kong

8. The British Government had made it clear from the

outset of the negotiations that any agreement with the