ABSTRACT

The resolution of the future of Hong Kong is being determined at a time of great moment in Chinese history. China is in the process of fundamental change and its future direction is uncertain. The country confronts immense problems that do not lend themselves to easy solution. The core of its traditional economic and political power is vested in the old state sector which is managed through complex systems of administrative directives. Hong Kong and the maritime Chinese which traditionally were on the periphery of the Chinese state have become more important in terms of China’s political culture as well as in terms of economics. China’s political identity is changing even as it is led by the communist party. Hong Kong itself was reborn after the Second World War and the Chinese civil war. The clashes between these cultures have made the Sino-British negotiations unusually acrimonious and difficult.