TNAG-2791-FCO40-4030-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China.-With-maps-1993 — Page 127

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stopped at the international boundary after their victory in the

Chinese civil war. Thereafter a curious arrangement emerged in

which the Chinese government consistently claimed the whole of

Hong Kong as Chinese territory and refused to acknowledge the

validity of the treaties on which British rule was based while

at the same time it did not challenge Britain's colonial

administration in practice. The Chinese government argued that

it would regain the territory when conditions were ripe. To this

end the Chinese government immediately removed Hong Kong for the

list of colonies in the De-colonisation Committee of the United

Nations upon resuming its seat in 1972. The British too did not

challenge the status quo for example by preparing Hong Kong for

an act of self-determination.

The first step to alter the arrangement was taken by the

British side. The expiry of the New Territory's lease on 30 June

1997 provided the impetus to explore matters with the Chinese as

the remaining 8 percent of Hong Kong's land area which had been

ceded in perpetuity had become so deeply integrated with the rest

that it was not viable by itself. The initial enquiries had been

made by accountants, insurers and the like as most leases were

for fifteen years. The British side rejected the idea of making

a unilateral alteration in the terms of the lease, by say an

order in Council, as it would risk evoking a hostile reaction

from the Chinese side that could have unpredictable consequences.

Thus the then Governor (now) Lord Maclehose raised the issue with

Deng Xiaoping when he visited Beijing in 1979. He returned to say

that Deng had provided reassurances by telling investors that