Everything about Sino-british Joint Declaration totally explained
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|altname=Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong
|t2=中華人民共和國政府和大不列顛及北愛爾蘭聯合王國政府關於香港問題的聯合聲明
|s2=中华人民共和国政府和大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国政府关于香港问题的联合声明
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|p2=Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó zhèngfŭ hé Dà Búlièdiàn jí Běi Ài'ěrlán Liánhé Wángguó zhèngfŭ guānyú Xiānggǎng Wèntí de Liánhé Shēngmíng
[]
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The
Sino-British Joint Declaration, formally known as the
Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong, was signed by the Prime Ministers of the
People's Republic of China (PRC) and the
United Kingdom (UK) governments on
December 19,
1984 in
Beijing.
The Declaration entered into force with the exchange of instruments of ratification on
May 27,
1985, and was registered by the PRC and UK governments at the
United Nations on
June 12,
1985. In the Joint Declaration, the PRC Government stated that it had decided to resume the exercise of sovereignty over
Hong Kong (including
Hong Kong Island,
Kowloon, and the
New Territories) with effect from
July 1,
1997, and the UK Government declared that it would hand over Hong Kong to the PRC with effect from
July 1, 1997. The PRC Government also declared its basic policies regarding Hong Kong in the document.
In accordance with the "
One Country, Two Systems" Principle agreed between the UK and the PRC, the
socialist system of PRC wouldn't be practiced in the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and Hong Kong's previous
capitalist system and its way of life would remain unchanged for a period of 50 years. The Joint Declaration provides that these basic policies should be stipulated in the
Hong Kong Basic Law.
Background
The background of the Sino-British Joint Declaration was the pending expiration of the lease of the
New Territories on
July 1,
1997. The lease was negotiated between the UK and the
Guangxu Emperor of China, and was for a period of 99 years starting from 1898. At the time of the lease signing, Hong Kong Island had already been ceded to the UK in perpetuity under the
Treaty of Nanking in 1842 after the
First Opium War, and the Kowloon Peninsula had also been ceded to the UK in perpetuity under the
Convention of Peking in 1860 after the
Second Opium War.
Commentaries
The signing of the Joint Declaration by the
Conservative Party government of
Margaret Thatcher was a cause of controversy in Britain at the time: some were surprised that the
right wing Prime Minister would agree to such an arrangement with the Communist government of China represented by
Deng Xiaoping. The Joint Declaration would also have to have been signed by
HM Queen Elizabeth II and the
President of China.
However, many commentaries pointed out that Britain was in an extremely weak negotiating position. Hong Kong wasn't militarily defensible and received most of its water and food supply from
Guangdong province in
mainland China. It was therefore considered economically infeasible to divide Hong Kong, with the UK retaining control for Hong Kong Island and Kowloon while returning the New Territories to the PRC in 1997, if no agreements could be reached by then. As mortgages for property in Hong Kong were typically fifteen years, without reaching an agreement on the future of Hong Kong in the early '80s, it was feared that the property market would collapse, causing a collapse of the general
economy in Hong Kong. Constraints in the land lease in the New Terrorities were also pressing problems at that time. In fact, while negotiation concerning the future of Hong Kong had started in the late 1970s, the final timing of the Declaration was related to the land and property factors.
Aftermath
After signing of the declaration, a
Sino-British Joint Liaison Group was set up according to the Annex II of the declaration.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sino-british Joint Declaration'.
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