The South China Daily reports that a new batch of declassified British documents reveal that Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, advised former British Prime Minister John Major to sit out the 1997 handover ceremony of Hong Kong’s sovereignty to avoid “embarrassment” when he shook hands with then Chinese President Jiang Zemin “. Chris Patten and former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind disagreed on the issue. The paper also mentions that the then British government thought Tung “would toe the Beijing line”, with Patten’s impression of Tung as “indecisive and headstrong”.
Chris Patten thinks John Major’s handshake with Jiang Zemin caused embarrassment to Britain
On January 14, 1997, Major’s private secretary Barton wrote to John Major, “Chris Patten thinks you don’t have to attend and that shaking hands with Jiang Zemin might embarrass you and cause resentment.” He also wrote, “That has been our opinion so far. However, the Foreign Secretary believes that you should attend to show the world the British interest in the Hong Kong issue after the transfer of sovereignty.” Jiang Zemin replaced Zhao Ziyang, then seen as an enlightened reformer, as general secretary after the bloody June 4 crackdown in Tiananmen in 1989.
According to the literature, two days after Barton’s letter to John Major, John Major and Nie Weijing agreed that there was no urgency in deciding whether to attend the transfer ceremony and that “everything would be decided after the British general election in May.”
As a result, John Major lost the general election and Labour’s Tony Blair became Prime Minister. John Major did not attend the handover ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on June 30, 1997. The ceremony was attended by the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the royal representative Prince Charles. It was Blair who shook hands with Jiang Zemin.
A new batch of declassified documents also reveals that Hong Kong’s then Chief Secretary Anson Chan lobbied the first Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to “not follow the Beijing line too closely.”
In a letter dated Feb. 20, 1997, Nie Weijing wrote to John Major that Tung would take a conservative and pro-Beijing line on sensitive issues and would not ensure Hong Kong’s autonomy. “Mr. Tung has so far followed the Chinese line closely. His record of words and deeds is disappointing, and he will not go against Beijing to defend Hong Kong.”
When Tung was elected by the EC as Hong Kong’s first chief executive in December 1996, he followed Beijing’s line and set up the provisional legislature. Nie Weijing wrote to John Major that “Anson Chan and her colleagues did their best to lobby Tung to take a slightly independent route, but it was quite difficult …… to conclude that it was not possible and the consequences were serious.”
Peng Dingkang: it is not appropriate to have undesirable arguments with Tung Chee-hwa
Declassified documents also disclosed that there was tension between Chris Patten and Tung before the transfer of sovereignty. On March 3, 1997, after a meeting with then Chief Executive-designate Tung Chee-hwa, Chris Patten sent a telegram to Nieh Wai-king in which he described his view of Tung: “He is stubborn but amiable; indecisive and headstrong, and as some say, cautious and conservative.” Patten continued, “He has repeatedly and recklessly put himself in a difficult position.” Patten hopes that Hong Kong civil servants will work closely with him, even after the transfer of sovereignty. He said, “We should avoid unseemly arguments with him before we (Britain) leave. But I’m not sure exactly how much we can influence him.”
When Tung met with Chris Patten on April 4, 1997, he declined Patten’s invitation and he did not attend the opening ceremony of the Lantau Main Line. Martin Dinham, nicknamed “Big Turtle” and then Patten’s personal assistant, said Tung had differences with Britain over issues such as the PLC and was not comfortable attending a similar event. Tung later said, “Visiting Guangdong officials time is more worthwhile.”
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