'Departing from socialism without being aware that it was doing so': Anglo-American Divergence Over the Question of Hong Kong, 1983-1984
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- 원태준
- Source
- 영국연구, 0(50), pp.239-268 Dec, 2023
- Subject
- 역사학
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2713-6329
1226-8135
Upon the start of Sino-British negotiations on the handover of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China in the summer of 1983, the British government led by Margaret Thatcher began providing regular briefings to the United States government after each round of talks with Beijing in order to secure Washington’s support and assistance in assuring the people of Hong Kong that London’s objective of maintaining the British way of life in Hong Kong after the handover will be achieved. However, the Ronald Reagan administration showed deep reluctance to support such an objective by arguing that it was unnecessary to obtain Chinese agreement for the British system to continue in Hong Kong when China was already showing signs of ‘departing from socialism without being aware that it was doing so’. Alarmed at such a laid-back attitude on the part of the Americans, the British government decided to launch a preemptive strike by publicly announcing that the United States had always supported Britain’s Hong Kong policy when the Reagan government refused to distance itself from the Republican Party’s 1984 election manifesto declaring America’s support for self-determination for the people of Hong Kong. In effect cornered into supporting the British position, the Reagan administration finally relented and gave its support for maintaining the British way of life in Hong Kong for 50 years after the handover.