An Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Future of Hong Kong signed on 19 December 1984.
This page includes information on the following topics:
1. On 26 September 1984 representatives of the Governments of the United Kingdom and of the People's Republic of China initialled the draft text of an agreement on the future of Hong Kong. The agreement, contained in the second part of this White Paper, consists of a Joint Declaration and three Annexes. There is an associated Exchange of Memoranda. These documents are the outcome of two years of negotiations between the two Governments, undertaken with the common aim of maintaining the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.
2. The purpose of this White Paper is to explain the background to the last two years' negotiations and their course, and to present the documents in their proper context. The text of this White Paper is also being published in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Government, and the people of Hong Kong are being invited to comment on the overall acceptability of the arrangements which it describes. Thereafter the matter will be debated in Parliament.
4. The Chinese Government has consistently taken the view that the whole of Hong Kong is Chinese territory. Its position for many years was that the question of Hong Kong came into the category of unequal treaties left over from history; that it should be settled peacefully through negotiations when conditions were ripe; and that pending a settlement the status quo should be maintained. The Chinese Government made its view of Hong Kong's status clear in a letter to the Chairman of the United Nations Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in March 1972. This maintained that the settlement of the question of Hong Kong was a matter of China's sovereign right and that consequently Hong Kong should not be included in the list of colonial territories covered by the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
6. Her Majesty's Government had by this time, following a detailed examination of the problem conducted in consultation with the then Governor concluded that confidence would begin to erode quickly in the early to mid-1980's if nothing was done to alleviate the uncertainty caused by the 1997 deadline. Accordingly, when the Governor of Hong Kong visited Peking in March 1979 at the invitation of the Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade, an attempt was made, on the initiative of Her Majesty's Government, to solve the specific question of land leases expiring in 1997. These discussions did not result in measures to solve the problem.
7. In the course of the next two years there was increasing awareness of the need to remove the uncertainty which the 1997 deadline generated. The importance of the issue was publicly stressed by the senior Unofficial Member of the Executive Council in May 1982. In January 1982 Sir (then Mr) Humphrey Atkins, Lord Privy Seal, visited Peking and was given significant indications of Chinese policy towards Hong Kong by Chinese leaders, which confirmed the view of Her Majesty's Government that negotiations should be opened with the Chinese Government.
"Today the leaders of both countries held far-reaching talks in a friendly atmosphere on the future of Hong Kong. Both leaders made clear their respective positions on the subject. They agreed to enter talks through diplomatic channels following the visit with the common aim of maintaining the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong."
10. In the course of the negotiations Her Majesty's Government explained in detail the systems which prevail in Hong Kong and the importance for these systems of the British administrative role and link. Following extensive discussion, however, it became clear that the continuation of British administration after 1997 would not be acceptable to China in any form. After full consultation with the Governor and the Executive Council of Hong Kong, Her Majesty's Government therefore proposed that the two sides discuss on a conditional basis what effective measures other than continued British administration might be devised to maintain the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong and explore further the Chinese ideas about the future which had at that stage been explained to them, in order to see whether on this basis arrangements which would ensure lasting stability and prosperity for Hong Kong could be constructed. The Chinese Government was told that, if this process was successful, Her Majesty's Government would consider recommending to Parliament a bilateral agreement enshrining the arrangements. Her Majesty's Government also undertook in this event to assist in the implementation of such arrangements. Following this, Her Majesty's Government sought to explore with the Chinese Government the implications of the Chinese Government's concept of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. In response, the Chinese side further elaborated its policies and ideas.
11. In April 1984 the two sides completed initial discussion of these matters. There were a number of outstanding unresolved points, but it was by then clear that an acceptable basis for an agreement might be possible. At the invitation of the Chinese Government the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs visited Peking from 15 to 18 April. During his meetings with Chinese leaders the two sides reviewed the course of the talks on the future of Hong Kong, and further progress was made. In Hong Kong on 20 April Sir Geoffrey Howe made a statement on the approach of Her Majesty's Government to the negotiations. He said that it would not be realistic to think of an agreement that provided for continued British administration in Hong Kong after 1997: for that reason Her Majesty's Government had been examining with the Chinese Government how it might be possible to arrive at arrangements that would secure for Hong Kong, after 1997, a high degree of autonomy under Chinese sovereignty, and that would preserve the way of life in Hong Kong, together with the essentials of the present systems. He made it clear that Her Majesty's Government were working for a framework of arrangements that would provide for the maintenance of Hong Kong's flourishing and dynamic society, and an agreement in which such arrangements would be formally set out.
12. After Sir Geoffrey Howe's visit in April 1984 negotiations continued. A working group was established on 21 June 1984 to meet full-time in Peking and consider documents tabled by both sides. From 27 to 31 July 1984 the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs again visited Peking. The visit was devoted almost entirely to the future of Hong Kong. Sir Geoffrey Howe announced in Hong Kong on 1 August that very substantial progress had been made towards agreement on the form and content of documents which would set out arrangements for Hong Kong's future with clarity and precision, in legally binding form.
13. Sir Geoffrey also announced on the same occasion that the two sides had agreed to establish a Sino-British Joint Liaison Group which would come into being when the agreement came into force and continue until the year 2000. It would meet in Peking, London and Hong Kong. It was agreed that the Group would not be an organ of power. Its functions would be: liaison, consultation on the implementation of the agreement, and exchange of information. It was agreed that it would play no part in the administration of Hong Kong. Her Majesty's Government would continue to be responsible for the administration of Hong Kong up to 30 June 1997.
14. Following Sir Geoffrey Howe's visit the negotiations continued on the remaining unresolved issues and three further rounds of plenary talks took place. A further ad hoc working group was established in Peking on 24 August. By 18 September negotiators on both sides had approved the English and Chinese texts of the documents that make up the agreement and the associated Exchange of Memoranda. These were submitted to British Ministers and Chinese leaders for final approval. The texts were initialled by the two delegation leaders on 26 September.
16. The negotiations had to be conducted on a basis of confidentiality. This was crucial to their success, but the maintenance of confidentiality also caused much concern and anxiety among the people of Hong Kong who were understandably anxious to know what was being negotiated for their future. All members of the Executive Council, as the Governor's closest advisers, were kept fully informed on the negotiations and consulted on a continuing basis throughout the period. The Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils (UMELCO) provided invaluable advice to the Governor and to Ministers on the course of the negotiations and on the attitude of the people of Hong Kong.
17. At a number of crucial points in the negotiations the Governor and Unofficial Members of the Executive Council visited London for consultations with the Prime Minister and other Ministers. British Ministers also paid a series of visits to Hong Kong, to consult the Governor, the Executive Council and the Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Councils and to keep in touch with opinion in the territory. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs was able to describe the approach of Her Majesty's Government to the negotiations in his statement in Hong Kong on 20 April 1984, and to fill in more details of what might eventually be included in an agreement in a further statement in the territory on 1 August 1984. In the course of the negotiations, and in particular since the statement of 20 April, numerous individuals and groups in Hong Kong have made specific proposals on what should be included in an eventual agreement. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong has debated aspects of the future of the territory on a number of occasions. Her Majesty's Government have paid close attention to these expressions of opinion which the Hong Kong Government have relayed to Ministers, and to views about the future expressed through a variety of channels---by and through UMELCO, through the press, through individual communications addressed to Her Majesty's Government or the Hong Kong Government. In this way Her Majesty's Government have sought to take into account the views of the people of Hong Kong to the maximum extent possible during the negotiations.
18. In the same way the maintenance of confidentiality has made the task of consulting Parliament on the negotiations more difficult. Despite this there were debates on Hong Kong in October and November 1983 and in May 1984, and part of the Foreign Affairs Debate in March 1984 was also devoted to Hong Kong. Members of Parliament have kept in close touch with the people of Hong Kong, both through visits to the territory and through meetings with Hong Kong delegations visiting the United Kingdom.
20. The Joint Declaration consists in part of linked declarations by Her Majesty's Government and the Chinese Government. In paragraph 1 the Chinese Government declares that it will resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong on 1 July 1997. In paragraph 2 Her Majesty's Government declare that they will restore Hong Kong to the Chinese Government from that date. In paragraph 3 the Chinese Government sets out its policies towards Hong Kong after 30 June 1997. In paragraph 4 the two Governments jointly declare that Her Majesty's Government will remain responsible for the administration of Hong Kong up to 30 June 1997. Paragraphs 5 and 6 deal with the Joint Liaison Group and land. Paragraph 7 constitutes the important link between the declarations by the two parties; it has the effect of making the Joint Declaration and the Annexes to it legally binding in their entirety on the two Governments. Paragraph 8 provides for the agreement to enter into force on ratification. Ratification will take place before 30 June 1985.
21. The agreement sets out clearly the relationship between the provisions which it contains and the future Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, to be promulgated by the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. Paragraph 3(12) of the Joint Declaration provides that the basic policies in the Joint Declaration and the elaboration of them in Annex I will be stipulated in the Basic Law. They will remain unchanged for 50 years.
22. Annex I contains an elaboration of Chinese policies for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Annex deals in detail with the way Hong Kong will work after 1 July 1997, and describes the extent of the autonomy and continuity which will prevail then. The subjects dealt with in the various sections of this Annex are:
(II) the laws;
(III) the judicial system;
(IV) the public service;
(V) the financial system;
(VI) the economic system and external economic relations;
(VII) the monetary system;
(VIII) shipping;
(IX) civil aviation;
(X) culture and education;
(XI) external relations;
(XII) defence, security and public order;
(XIII) rights and freedoms;
(XIV) right of abode, travel documents and immigration.
24. Annex III deals with land leases. It covers leases that have already been issued by the Hong Kong Government, leases to be issued between the entry into force of the agreement and 1997, certain financial arrangements, and arrangements for the establishment of a joint Land Commission.
25. Associated with the agreement is a separate Exchange of Memoranda on the status of persons after 30 June 1997 who at present are British Dependent Territories citizens, and related issues. The Memoranda will be formally
26. The last part of this White Paper contains further explanatory notes on the text of the Annexes to the Joint Declaration and the Exchange of Memoranda.
28. The text of the agreement has been initialled by both sides. This represents a certification by the negotiators that it represents accurately the outcome of the negotiations. However, as is normal with international agreements negotiated between nations there is no realistic possibility of amending the text. The agreement must be taken as a whole.
29. Her Majesty's Government have a duty to make clear beyond any possibility of misunderstanding the alternative to acceptance of the agreement set out in this White Paper. In their view, there is no possibility of an amended agreement. The alternative to acceptance of the present agreement is to have no agreement. In this case the Chinese Government has made it plain that negotiations could not be reopened and that it would publish its own plan for Hong Kong. There is no guarantee that such a unilateral plan would include all the elements included in the draft agreement, nor would it have the same status as a legally binding agreement between the two countries. Whether or not there is an agreement between Her Majesty's Government and the Chinese Government the New Territories will revert to China on 1 July 1997 under the terms of the 1898 Convention. The remainder of Hong Kong (Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Stonecutters Island) would not be viable alone. Hong Kong, including the New Territories, has since 1898 become an integral whole and Her Majesty's Government are satisfied that there is no possibility of dividing the New Territories which revert to China on 1 July 1997 from the remainder. The choice is therefore between reversion of Hong Kong to China under agreed, legally binding international arrangements or reversion to China without such arrangements. This is not a choice which Her Majesty's Government have sought to impose on the people of Hong Kong. It is a choice imposed by the facts of Hong Kong's history.
30. Her Majesty's Government believe that the agreement is a good one. They strongly commend it to the people of Hong Kong and to Parliament. It provides a framework in which Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China will be able to preserve its unique economic system and way of life after 1 July 1997. The agreement preserves Hong Kong's familiar legal system and the body of laws in force in Hong Kong, including the common law. The agreement gives Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy in which it will be able to administer itself and pass its own legislation. It will enable Hong Kong to continue to decide on its own economic, financial and trade policies, and to participate in international organisations and trade agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Her Majesty's Government are confident that the agreement provides the necessary assurances about Hong Kong's future to allow the territory to continue to flourish, and to maintain its unique role in the world as a major trading and financial centre.
32. The text of this White Paper is also being published in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Government and will be circulated through a wide variety of channels in the territory. An Assessment Office has been set up in Hong Kong under the charge of a senior official of the Hong Kong Government, directly responsible to the Governor. This office will provide Her Majesty's Government and Parliament with an analysis and assessment of opinion in Hong Kong on the draft agreement. Two monitors, Sir Patrick Nairne and Mr Justice Simon Li, have been appointed by Her Majesty's Government to observe the work of the Assessment Office and to report independently to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on whether they are satisfied that the Assessment Office has properly, accurately and impartially discharged its duties. In the light of these two reports Her Majesty's Government will decide what recommendation to make to Parliament.
Last revised: 7 Nov, 1996