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such a course of action, both it and Britain are bound to pay
huge political costs for it.
If the colonial government is to choose a power sharing
approach so that an expanded authority structure can be built, it
has to make the important decision as to whom it should be allied
with. Theoretically speaking, the natural choice must be the
future sovereign of Hong Kong, i.e., China. In fact, some form of
Sino-British cooperation has been ordained by the Joint
Declaration, particularly in the latter part of the transitional
period.43 Since the signing of the Joint Declaration, Sino-
British cooperation has indeed achieved quite substantial
results, which include the participation of Hong Kong in GATT as
an independent member and the setting up of a new pension scheme
for the civil servants.
There are however a lot of frictions between both countries.
The June 4 event in China in 1989 and the involvement of Britain
in the retaliatory actions of the West against China had strained
Sino-British relationship to the breaking point. On the part of
43 In Annex II of the Joint Declaration, Article 5 reads: 'The two Governments have agreed that in the second half of the period between the establishment of the Joint Liaison Group and 1 July 1997 there will be need for closer cooperation, which will therefore be intensified during that period. Matters for consideration during this second period shall include: (a) procedures to be adopted for the smooth transition in 1997; (b) action to assist the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to maintain and develop economic and cultural relations and conclude agreements on these matters with states, regions and relevant international organisations.' See A Draft Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Future of Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Government Printer, 26 September 1984), p. 5.
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