ABSTRACT
A Joint Sino-British Liaison Group was established in May 1985 to ensure a smooth transition for the transfer of power to China, but the group ran into difficulty when relations quickly deteriorated after the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989. President Jiang Zemin considered the return of Hong Kong to be of the utmost significance, especially because he made little headway in negotiations concerning reunification with Taiwan during the 1990s. The fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's handover was marked by anti-Beijing, prodemocracy protests. Diplomatic relations between China and the United States have been characterized as troubling. Trade conflicts continued to plague U.S.-China relations to the point where journalists were writing of a "trade war" by 1995. Stability in East Asia depends on good relations between China and Japan, two nations sure to remain economic and military powers for the foreseeable future. Diplomatic relations between China and the United States have been characterized as troubling.
