China's People's Liberation Army arrival has telling symbolism in Hong Kong
By Sarah Davison
HONG KONG (Reuter): The arrival in Hong Kong next week of a contingent of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) carries a symbolism far outweighing the numbers involved -- 40 unarmed soldiers.
After long and painful negotiations, Britain and China announced on Tuesday that in less than a week the PLA personnel would arrive in the territory as an advance guard prior to Britain's formal handover of the territory to China.
The sovereignty switch is not until the stroke of midnight on June 30, but the PLA personnel, who will not wear uniforms outside their barracks and will have no security role, will be an emphatic mark of Hong Kong's transition.
"This is the real thing. And the PLA, of course, has a central role in China and that also gives it significance," Michael DeGolyer political analyst at Hong Kong's Baptist University, told Reuters.
The diplomatic status of most other Chinese representative offices in Hong Kong, such as Xinhua News Agency and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, had on occasion been uncertain, he said.
But there is no confusion about the status of the PLA. It is China's designated protector of both party and state.
"It will be interesting to see who they talk to," DeGolyer said. "It would be appropriate to pay a courtesy call on the chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa.
"And it would be symbolically significant for the chief executive to meet with them simply because they are the first establishment of an official representation of sovereignty in the territory," he added.
Tung was appointed by China in December to become the first post-colonial leader, succeeding colonial Governor Chris Patten.
Details of the PLA deal were welcomed by some of those who had been previously alarmed by reports that a heavily armed advance guard might march into the territory before July 1.
Memories of the 1989 Beijing massacre, in which PLA soldiers crushed pro-democracy protests with heavy loss of life, remain vivid in Hong Kong.
"The PLA issue has been highly sensitive. At least they managed to persuade them not to come in heavily armed before July," said independent Democrat Emily Lau.
But senior government sources warned against reading any new mood of Sino-British reconciliation into the announcement.
"Politically, it's a minor sign they can agree on things but it really doesn't change things. I don't see any major turning point in this in terms of relationship," said PLA expert and political analyst Tai Ming Cheung.
In fact, there are increasing signs of strain in the Sino- British relationship.
On Monday, Beijing unilaterally announced who would qualify for permanent residency in Hong Kong after July 1.
The move prompted a rebuke from Britain for announcing a go-it-alone decision on an issue that it said should have been settled diplomatically.
Sources close to Patten said China cared less about the right of abode than it did about forcing the recognition of a Beijing- backed Provisional Legislature.
China insists that the provisional chamber will pass the residency law rather than the territory's existing elected Legislative Council, due for extinction on July 1.
Signs of a Sino-British standoff are evident everywhere as the colony's endgame unfolds and Britain, perceived by most Hong Kong people as increasingly irrelevant, packs its bags and prepares to leave town.
The only mainland China representation on Tuesday at a Foreign Correspondents Club reception for diplomats was a low-ranking Chinese official.
Xinhua director Zhou Nan, his senior deputies and China's chief handover negotiator Zhao Jihua, all stayed away.