In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

18 Signatures and Celebrations • hroughou t the long, hot, summer days of 1984 discussion abou t M th e agreemen t wit h Chin a ha d continue d i n Executiv e Council , • an d at times less formally around the table in Government House . m Th e agreemen t wa s t o tak e th e for m o f a declaratio n b y bot h m governments , followe d b y a n elaboratio n o f China' s basi c policie s towards Hong Kong to be contained in a number o f annexes. We were all caught up i n th e drama o f those day s of secrecy as th e text and its annexes emerged section by section after th e drafts had been passed round from Hong Kong to London and Beijing and had been finally amended an d approved . Th e Governor , o n hi s visit s t o London , wa s sometimes accompanied by non-official member s of Executive Council , and at other times he travelled alone between all three places, explaining and pleading an d fillin g i n th e gaps which th e bare words o f telegram s failed t o do. At times , in discussion , I took a different tac k fro m m y colleague s based on what I thought the people would want us to do, what they would accept and what I thought thei r reactions would be to particular bits of the agreement . I was optimisti c tha t th e resul t wa s goin g t o b e muc h better tha n when we had started o n thi s long journey. We seemed t o b e getting the best of both worlds. The administration, the government, would continue as before but it would no longer be administered by the British but b y th e Hon g Kon g people themselves . Th e civi l service an d al l th e systems which had been developed over the years would continue as before 18 Signatures and Celebrations hroughout the long, hot, summer days of 1984 discussion about the agreement with China had continued in Executive Council, and at times less fonnally around the table in Government House. The agreement was to take the form of a declaration by both governments, followed by an elaboration of China's basic policies towards Hong Kong to be contained in a number of annexes. We were all caught up in the drama of those days of secrecy as the text and its annexes emerged section by section after the drafts had been passed round from Hong Kong to London and Beijing and had been finally amended and approved. The Governor, on his visits to London, was sometimes accompanied by non-official members of Executive Council, and at other times he travelled alone between all three places, explaining and pleading and filling in the gaps which the bare words of telegrams failed to do. At times, in discussion, I took a different tack from my colleagues based on what I thought the people would want us to do, what they would accept and what I thought their reactions would be to particular bits of the agreement. I was optimistic that the result was going to be much better than when we had started on this long journey. We seemed to be getting the best ofboth worlds. The administration, the government, would continue as before but it would no longer be administered by the British but by the Hong Kong people themselves. The civil service and all the systems which had been developed over the years would continue as before Feeling the Stones — th e Commo n Law , a n independen t judiciary , an d basi c right s an d freedoms. What could be better than that? And as I write in 2002, several years afte r th e retur n o f sovereignty , wh o woul d hav e believe d tha t b y now there would still be expatriate British officials sprinkled throughou t the administration and the police force, who were allowed to continue in their employmen t b y th e governmen t o f th e Hon g Kon g Specia l Administrative Region of China . Finally, i n th e earl y mornin g o f 2 6 Septembe r 1984 , th e Governo r flew...

Share