Jiang to attend HK handover<\/p>\n
By Harvey Stockwin<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (JP): Seventeen days before Hong Kong formally
\nbecomes part of China, full details of the handover ceremony have
\nyet to be agreed between the Britain and China.<\/p>\n
But now that it has been decided that Chinese President and
\nChinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary-general Jiang Zemin and
\nPrime Minister Li Peng will both join Foreign Minister Qian
\nQichen in attending the handover ceremony straddling midnight on
\nJune 30, while British Prime Minister Tony Blair will also attend
\ntogether with Prince Charles and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook,
\nthe way ought to be open for speedier Sino-British agreement.<\/p>\n
These developments mask the fact that for at least twelve
\nmonths and possibly longer, Britain and China have been at
\nloggerheads over the ceremonial way in which Britain departs and
\nChina assumes sovereignty.<\/p>\n
While everywhere else in the former British Empire there was
\nlittle if any difficulty in arranging the ceremony for the
\nBritish exit, here it has involved extended haggling. Unlike all
\nformer colonies, Hong Kong was not enjoying self-determination
\nprior to becoming independent. Rather it was an entity being
\nhanded over from one sovereign power to another.<\/p>\n
Essentially the Sino-British wrangling was born of two very
\ndifferent perspectives. Britain naturally took pride in what it
\nhad achieved in making Hong Kong a great international city. To
\nthe contrary, China took absolutely no pride in the thought that
\nany part of China had been under foreigners' control for 156
\nyears.<\/p>\n
All along the CCP stress regarding Hong Kong has been on anti-
\ncolonialism, focussing on the means used to grab Hong Kong in the
\nfirst place, rather than Hong Kong's towering growth, literally
\nand figuratively, into a commercial, business, and financial
\ncenter.<\/p>\n
Given this background, it has not been easy for top CCP
\nleaders to agree to come to accept back what, in their eyes,
\nshould not have been stolen in the first place.<\/p>\n
Until now, the leading CCP figure scheduled to be at the
\nhandover ceremony was Foreign Minister Qian Qichen. President
\nJiang was expected to attend only on July 1 -- after Hong Kong
\nwas once again Chinese territory, and had ceased to be British.<\/p>\n
Undoubtedly one reason for Jiang and Prime Minister Li
\ndeciding to come is China's stress on the \"achievement\" of the
\nrepossession of Hong Kong. Within China, the highly controlled
\npress can be counted upon to go on concealing what has been
\nachieved in Hong Kong while it was a British colony.<\/p>\n
Most certainly another major reason is the looming advent of
\nthe CCP's 15th Party Congress in the autumn, following the death
\nof paramount leader Deng Xiaoping earlier this year. Jiang and Li
\nwill both want to use a great \"success\" in Hong Kong to
\nstrengthen their respective leadership credentials, prior to the
\nallocation of party posts. Surprisingly, the third-ranking CCP
\ncadre, National People's Congress chairman Qiao Shi is not also
\nincluded in the handover delegation, even though the NPC is the
\nbody responsible for the laws that will govern Hong Kong's return
\nto the motherland.<\/p>\n
The Chinese decision quickly ended speculation whether or not
\nPrime Minister Tony Blair would also come to the handover
\nceremony, as Blair used the new Prime Ministerial question time
\nformat in the House of Commons to indicate that he would attend.
\nThe British delegation will also be headed by Prince Charles and
\nthe Foreign Minister Robin Cook. Prince Charles, as the monarch's
\nrepresentative, and the last British Governor of Hong Kong Chris
\nPatten are both scheduled to leave Hong Kong at midnight June
\n30th on the last major voyage of the royal yacht Brittania,
\nbefore it is decommissioned.<\/p>\n
The problem for Blair remains the fact that the Chinese have
\nscheduled, just after midnight, a swearing-in ceremony, not
\nmerely for the new Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special
\nAdministrative region (HKSAR), but also for their controversial,
\nnewly appointed Legislative Council which will replace the
\nLegislative Council fully elected for a four-year term in 1995.
\nThe British have all along opposed the replacement of the elected
\nbody. Naturally Blair is reluctant to endorse the unelected body
\nat the last moment, and has indicated that he will not attend the
\nJuly 1 swearing-in ceremony. Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State
\nMadeleine Albright had already announced that she will not attend
\nthis part of the festivities.<\/p>\n
Indonesian and other ASEAN officials due to attend the post-
\nmidnight ceremony, which may include several Foreign Ministers,
\nalong with the diplomatic representatives of many other nations,
\nare effectively being used, by China, to try and legitimize the
\ndissolution of Hong Kong's first fully elected democratic
\nassembly.<\/p>",
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