The world order that existed when the treaty was signed had changed beyond recognition, from a struggle against colonialism by peoples on every continent, to colony after colony declaring its independence; from a global struggle between capitalism and socialism, to the disintegration of parts of the socialist camp … the world would never again be as it was one hundred and forty years before. China would never again be as impotent and corrupt, with a government as easily trampled upon as the Qing. And Britain, with its globe-spanning imperium slipping away in a stream of former colonies declaring independence, could no longer summon the might of empire.
Late September in Beijing is the most beautiful season for the ancient capital, a time of high blue skies and pleasant weather.
At 9 am on September 24th, in the Fujian Room of the Great Hall of the People, top officials from both China and the UK clasped hands across a hundred and forty years of history.
They were there representing two very different countries: one just beginning its process of reform and opening up, the other an empire in eclipse; one an eastern giant covering almost 9.6 million square kilometers, the other a 245,000 square kilometer island grouping; one with a population of 1.3 billion, the other less than 60 million.
Each was represented by a world-class diplomatic player, and the game was about to begin.
Margaret Thatcher, clad in a blue dress with red dots, a white pearl necklace, and high heels, an arrogant smile on her face, greeted Deng Xiaoping: by saying: "As a British Prime Minister on an official visit to China, I am pleased to meet you."
"Yes, I've met a few British prime ministers, all out of office now. But I welcome you." Deng Xiaoping replied, dressed in a light blue Mao suit, the smile on his face in no way betraying a lack of toughness.
Government negotiations are a bloodless war. And from the exchange of the first face-to-face pleasantries, both sides evinced a gift for subtle machinations.
British Prime Minister Thatcher was the famed Iron Lady, renowned for her toughness. Even when her husband Denis Thatcher proposed to her, she made no effort to hide her arrogance, saying to him: "I cannot be like other women, hiding behind their husbands, or stuck in the kitchen. I must lead an extraordinary life."
In a male-dominated England, women stayed away from politics. That Thatcher managed to be elected prime minister in 1979, hold onto the job for eleven years, and earn the world-famous sobriquet "Iron Lady" , spoke what a truly extraordinary life she led.
1982 was her administration's most triumphant year. She had dispatched the British military on an expedition against Argentina, to conquer the lightly-populated Falkland Islands (also known as the Malvinas). She said: "Both Britain's global standing and my own status will be changed by victory in the Falklands." The campaign had swollen the Iron Lady's ambition, and the idea gripped her imagination that she might re-conquer China as she had conquered Argentina—making the world sit up and take notice of both her and Britain. She was determined to put China in its place.
In a number of cabinet meetings, she asked her advisors, "Does Hong Kong have the ability to defend itself militarily?" If the negotiations went south, she was prepared to take military measures to resist China's efforts to retake Hong Kong.
Seeing her advisors shake their heads one by one, the obstinate, headstrong Iron Lady reprimanded them, saying, "And is it so, just because you say it is?"
Seeing their prime minister behave so childishly, the assembled ministers looked at one another with alarmed faces.
How many troops did the UK have in Hong Kong? Did it actually have the ability to resist an attack by China. The 1981 bilateral agreement between Hong Kong and the UK stipulated that the UK would station eight thousand troops in the colony, two thousand of whom would be British troops, and six thousand of whom would be Nepali mercenaries. There were also roughly ten thousand people of Chinese descent employed in Hong Kong in civilian positions who might be called upon, including five infantry battalions, five patrol boats, and one helicopter squadron. Thatcher still seemed to think she was dealing with the Qing government, who could be forced into signing humiliating treaties at the sight of a mere twenty-six gunships.
Even if the UK's almost eighteen thousand troops in Hong Kong were to morph into supermen, they would stand no chance against the combined might of China's air, land, and sea forces.
Before Thatcher came to Beijing, she flew first to Japan, to where she summoned Percy Cradock, the British Ambassador to China. She told him to communicate her uncompromising stance to the Chinese side, and to say that Hong Kong would not be returned to China.
Cradock responded: "The Chinese will not back down. They will not place issues of economic prosperity above political questions. Unless we show a willingness to return sovereignty and political control of Hong Kong to China, we won't make any progress in these negotiations." Cradock was a "China hand" , and understood completely China's national situation.
"No! I will not bend the knee to the Chinese!"
This was Thatcher's attitude prior to her meeting with Deng Xiaoping.
It was more than personal attributes that drove her hardline stance; more important were Britain's enormous economic interests in Hong Kong. Britain had occupied Hong Kong for more than a hundred years, transforming a small fishing village into a world famous metropolis and center of international trade. Hong Kong was the most successful, most economically prosperous of the UK's colonies. To the British government, Hong Kong was the "goose that laid golden eggs" and "Britain's ATM" . It was the last plump bit of meat left to Britain from its global colonial rule. All the other colonies it had left were barren islands, none of which could be squeezed for profit.