The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping set a deadline of two
years for China's negotiations with Britain over the return of Hong
Kong, former diplomat Zhou Nan said recently. And if no agreement
were reached within that timeframe, China would have acted
unilaterally, he said.
Zhou, who was the country's chief negotiator at the time, was
recalling the role of Deng and the key decisions made during the
often tense talks.
Deng said that while China hoped to resolve the issue in a
peaceful way, he had set a deadline of two years.
If no agreement could be reached within that time, China would
make and announce its own decision.
"We hoped there would be no disruptions during the transition.
If Hong Kong experienced upheavals, we would be forced to
reconsider the deadline and methods. That is to say, we would not
wait until 1997, and the issue would be solved by non-peaceful
means," Zhou remembered Deng saying.
Zhou, who witnessed the entire process of the territory's
return, spoke about Deng's role in the Sino-British negotiations in
an interview with Xinhua, ahead of the 10th anniversary of Hong
Kong's return on July 1.
"During the negotiations, one of the events which left the
deepest impression was Deng's first meeting with then British Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher in Beijing in September 1982," said
Zhou, a vice-foreign minister in the 1980s and director of the Hong
Kong branch of the Xinhua News Agency from 1990 to 1997.
"The excellent remarks by Deng during the meeting set the
keynote of the Chinese standpoint on resolving the Hong Kong
issue," Zhou said.
"It was a tit-for-tat meeting," he said.
The British side intended to nominally hand over the sovereignty
of Hong Kong to China, but retain the administrative rights.
But Deng said there was no room for negotiation on the issue of
sovereignty, Zhou said.
"We had waited for so long, and the people trusted the
government to do the right thing. If Hong Kong could not be
returned to China in 1997, we would be seen as traitors and we
should step down automatically," Zhou quoted Deng as saying.
Deng strongly opposed the establishment of a British high
commission in Hong Kong. He got angry when the British opposed
China's deployment of troops in Hong Kong, Zhou said.
When the Sino-British negotiations focused on the arrangements
before 1997, Deng emphasized that the British should not abuse Hong
Kong revenues, undermine the currency or encourage the withdrawal
of capital, and leave a huge financial deficit for the government
of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Zhou
said.
Under Deng's instructions, the Chinese side stuck to its
principles while remaining flexible, and overcame many obstacles,
reaching an agreement with Britain in September 1984, just before
the deadline, Zhou said.
During the composition of the Basic Law, one of the key issues
was to determine the political system of the future Hong Kong
SAR.
Deng said Hong Kong should not copy Western systems and
universal suffrage must be implemented gradually rather than in a
single move.
"Deng's instructions are still relevant today. They are
practical guide with far-reaching implications," Zhou said.
Born in 1927, Zhou was the head of the Chinese delegation during
the negotiations from January to September 1984. He was appointed
vice-foreign minister and signed the draft of the Sino-British
Joint Declaration on behalf of the Chinese delegation in the same
month.
Zhou said he has cared about the development of Hong Kong ever
since.
"The experience of the past 10 years since Hong Kong's return
has shown that the principle of one country, two systems is
feasible," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2007)