TNAG-2791-FCO40-4030-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China.-With-maps-1993 — Page 150

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commitment to the well-being of the Hong Kong people and the

attachment to democratic values and the rule of law.

In China there is a paradox between the growing importance

of Hong Kong in economic matters and the limited bureaucratic

weight given to the actual conduct of the negotiations and the

politics thereof. From the perspective of the vast bureaucratic

establishment of the Chinese state Hong Kong is neither strictly

a domestic nor a foreign affairs matter. It does not fall within

the administrative jurisdiction of the State's domestic

organizations and, despite it being negotiated with Britain, as

a territory technically claimed to be within Chinese sovereignty

involving Chinese compatriots, Hong Kong does not fall within the

purview of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs either (although it

should be noted that it has a relatively small office concerned

with Hong Kong and Macau). Moreover, unlike Taiwan, Hong Kong has

not occupied a prominent position in the consciousness of China's

leaders continuously since 1949. It will be recalled that the

issue of the Hong Kong lease was first raised as an issue by the

British and not by the Chinese. Before the British raised it in

1979, the Chinese appeared not to have focused upon the problem.

Initially a small team under the leadership of Liao Chengzhi

(a prominent Beijing based politician who was well connected with

the overseas Chinese and the Japanese who was also well trusted

by Deng Xiaoping18) prepared the Chinese negotiating position

18 For an account of Liao's significance especially in relations with Japan see Kurt Werner Radtke, China's Relations with Japan, 1945-83: The Role of Liao Chengzhi. (Manchester and

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