ABSTRACT
The representatives of China and Britain have been negotiating the reversion of the sovereignty of Hong Kong in one form or another more or less continuously since 1979. The Chinese have long suspected a British design to abscond with the surplus capital of Hong Kong and to leave the territory in disarray in the hands of an influential pro-British group. The original conflict that had led the Chinese to cede Hong Kong in 1842 arose from the cultural and ideological gulf between the two sides, although it was occasioned by the Chinese attempt to stop the trade in opium conducted under British protection. Several problems arose in the course of the negotiations that bear upon the distrust that has made Sino-British cooperation so difficult despite their common interest in effecting a smooth transfer of sovereignty. Every turn in the negotiations has been dogged by Chinese suspicion of possible British schemes to secrete vast sums from Hong Kong.
