TNAG-2702-FCO40-3908-Memoirs-of-Sir-Percy-Cradock--diplomat-and-sinologist-1993 — Page 186

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doubts that arose. The reasoning behind the treaty, it was

admitted, was impeccable; but, illogically, the question

recurred, could not some other solution have been found?

These misgivings, stemming from the fact of the

lease and the nature of the Peking government, were

aggravated by the painful history of nationality

legislation and the removal, in 1962, of the right of any

Britain. The hard

Government could

Hong Kong residents to settle in

political reality, that no British

contemplate as immigrants the numbers involved, was in

practical terms a complete answer. But again there was the

nagging doubt, perhaps we should have done more. Perhaps

the territory had to be handed back, but not the people.

Communist

There was also a belated sense of guilt over the

failure to introduce democracy to Hong Kong well before the

negotiations and an exaggerated claim for its efficacy as a

defence against

encroachments. What was

overlooked was its inefficacy if it merely provoked a

backlash and the certain hostility of the reaction from

Peking in the years after the Communist take-over in 1949 to

any moves toward more popular government, with its

suggestion of ultimate independence. The Chinese had made

it plain that such moves would not be tolerated; talk now of

democratic opportunities missed in the sixties and

seventies is therefore unreal. It is also worth noting how