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Britain and China Sign Agreement on Hong Kong

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« on: December 19, 2009, 01:59:19 am »

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« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2009, 01:59:56 am »

Britain and China Sign Agreement on Hong Kong
Hong Kong Accord Is Signed in Peking
By JOHN F. BURNS
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES

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PEKING, Dec. 19 -- Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher today signed the agreement formally committing Britain to surrender Hong Kong to China in 1997 in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist economic system.

''We have accomplished a task of historical significance,'' Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang said after he and Mrs. Thatcher exchanged red velvet binders containing Chinese and English copies of the accord. Mrs. Thatcher responded by calling the pact ''a landmark in the life of the territory, in the course of Anglo-Chinese relations and in the history of international diplomacy.''

Moments earlier, before onlookers who included China's pre-eminent leader, Deng Xiaoping, and a live-television audience in Hong Kong, the two Government leaders signed the document that will put an end to a century and a half of British rule in the enclave that began as a replenishment station for the British Navy and grew to become one of the most thriving outposts of free enterprise in Asia.

The agreement will assume binding effect only after it is ratified. Britain's Parliament approved the accord last week, and China's nominal legislature, the National People's Congress, is to take similar action before July 1. A joint consultative body will monitor progress toward the transfer.

Queen Will Visit China

The good will generated on both sides was demonstrated by Mrs. Thatcher's announcement that on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II she had accepted an earlier invitation for the Queen to make an official visit here. Mrs. Thatcher said at a news conference that she hoped the visit would take place in the second half of 1986.

For China, which saw several European nations seize territorial concessions in the 19th century, the Hong Kong agreement assumed momentous symbolic importance. Hu Yaobang, the Communist Party's Secretary General, appeared to speak for a tide of Chinese opinion when he told Mrs. Thatcher that she had brought ''a red- letter day, an occasion of great joy'' to China's one billion people.

In particular, it was a day of triumph for Mr. Deng, the 80-year-old veteran of the Communist revolution who rebounded from being purged twice to take effective control of the country in 1979. Mr. Hu and Mr. Zhao emphasized that the agreement to allow Hong Kong to retain its capitalist system, the key to Britain's acceptance of the accord, was Mr. Deng's brainchild.

In this sense, the agreement is also a showcase for Mr. Deng's domestic policy of encouraging market forces and foreign investment. He himself made the link when he told Mrs. Thatcher that China would need Hong Kong's vigorous economy until the middle of the next century to help its own modernization.

Talks Began 27 Months Ago

The signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People was the culmination of a diplomatic process that began 27 months ago when Mrs. Thatcher came here for exploratory talks that seem to portend a bitter feud.

With business confidence ebbing in the colony at the prospect of an eventual Communist takeover, Mrs. Thatcher sought agreement to extend British rule beyond July 1, 1997, a deadline set by the 99-year Chinese imperial lease covering nine-tenths of the colony's area. Mr. Deng refused and threatened a unilateral solution unless Britain agreed within two years to a peaceful transfer of the territory.

With the deadline approaching last summer, Mrs. Thatcher conceded the issue of sovereignty and Mr. Deng responded by proposing the formula of ''one country, two systems,'' which was adopted in the agreement signed today. Under the formula, Peking promises to maintain Hong Kong's free-market economy, its legal system and other rights enjoyed by its 5.5 million people side by side with China's Communist system.

According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry account of an 80-minute talk with the British leader, Mr. Deng said China's self-interest, as well as principle, would insure that the accord was carried out.

Thatcher Arrives in Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Thursday, Dec. 20 (UPI) - Mrs. Thatcher arrived here today after a three-hour flight from Peking. She is to address a session of the Executive and Legislative Councils before leaving for the United States for talks Saturday with President Reagan.

Caption: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain joining in toast with Deng Xiaoping, center, China's leader, and Prime Minister Zhao Ziyang at signing of pact in Peking. Under accord, Britain is to surrender Hong Kong to China in 1997, with China guaranteeing a 50-year extension of the colony's free-market economy.


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