TNAG-2703-FCO40-3909-Memoirs-of-Sir-Percy-Cradock--diplomat-and-sinologist-1993 — Page 29

seriousness

of these warnings; which, if implemented,

would mean that the reforms could at best bring two years of

improved democracy, after the 1995

elections,

to be

followed by an indefinite period of a more repressive

system. To this had to be added the effect of divided

authority in the remaining years of British rule and, most

worrying of all, the strain on the Chinese commitment to the

Joint Declaration itself.

repeated

On the British side, there were

statements of readiness for discussion; but at the same time

the Government expressed their full backing for Mr Patten;

and the Foreign Secretary stated that the days of

negotiation with Peking over the head of Hong Kong were

past. In Hong Kong the Governor was criticised by the

business community, but otherwise enjoyed much personal

support, though this was coupled with a strong popular wish

that confrontation with China should be avoided, a typical

Hong Kong combination. In Britain itself attitudes were

less nuancé. The press preferred to portray the issue in the

terms of a simple morality play, in which the Governor

fought the good fight against the wicked Chinese in the

cause of democracy. The fact that the struggle took place

over the body of Hong Kong and the likely effect on Hong Kong

if the reforms were made law and the Chinese threats were

put into operation were aspects that received less

attention.

By the end of 1992 Sino-British relations had

fallen to their lowest level for some ten years. The speed

of the deterioration and the strength of the Chinese

10