Sino-British Joint Declaration
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The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong (Chinese: 中華人民共和國政府和大不列顛及北愛爾蘭聯合王國政府關於香港問題的聯合聲明 (Traditional), 中华人民共和国和大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国关于香港问题的联合声明 (Simplified), Pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó hé Dà Búlièdiàn jí Běi Ài'ěrlán Liánhé Wángguó guānyú Xiānggǎng Wèntí de Liánhé Shēngmíng [Template:Audio] ), or the Sino-British Joint Declaration (Chinese: 中英聯合聲明 (Traditional) , 中英联合声明 (Simplified), Pinyin: Zhōng-Yīng Liánhé Shēngmíng [Template:Audio] ) for short, was signed by the Prime Ministers of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the United Kingdom (UK) governments on December 19, 1984 in Beijing.
The Declaration entered into force with the exchange of instruments of ratification on May 27, 1985, and was registered by the PRC and UK governments at the United Nations on June 12, 1985. In the Joint Declaration, the PRC Government stated that it had decided to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong (including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories) with effect from July 1, 1997, and the UK Government declared that it would hand over Hong Kong to the PRC with effect from July 1, 1997. The PRC Government also declared its basic policies regarding Hong Kong in the document.
In accordance with the "One Country, Two Systems" Principle agreed between the UK and the PRC, the socialism system of PRC shall not be practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and Hong Kong's previous capitalist system and its way of life shall remain unchanged for a period of 50 years. The Joint Declaration provides that these basic policies shall be stipulated in the Hong Kong Basic Law.
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United Nations Involvement
The Joint Declaration is unlike an agreement made within a state, and the involvement of the UN creates obligations that internationalize the status of Hong Kong. The Joint Declaration is, therefore, not a private agreement between the PRC and the UK, but an international one.
International treaties are concluded between states, not within a state, and are usually not needed to be registered with the UN. However, the UN Secretary General could agree to be involved, if invited.
By registering the Joint Declaration with the UN, both the PRC and UK governments acknowledged a need for a neutral third party, and accepted its possible participation by doing so. Otherwise, they could have simply made it a bilateral treaty, which they did not choose to.
Background
The background of the Sino-British Joint declaration was the pending expiration of the lease of the New Territories on July 1, 1997. The lease was negotiated between the UK and the Guangxu Emperor of China, and was for a period of 99 years starting from 1898. At the time of the lease signing, the Hong Kong Island had already been ceded to the UK in perpetuity under the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 after the First Opium War, and the Kowloon Peninsula had also been ceded to the UK in perpetuity under the Convention of Peking in 1860 after the Second Opium War.
Commentaries
The signing of the Joint Declaration by the Conservative Party government of Margaret Thatcher was a cause of controversy in Britain at the time: some were surprised that the right wing Prime Minister would agree to such an arrangement with the Communist government of China represented by Deng Xiaoping.
However, many commentaries pointed out that Britain was in an extremely weak negotiating position. Hong Kong was not militarily defensible and received most of its water and food supply from Guangdong province in mainland China. It was therefore considered economically infeasible to divide Hong Kong, with the UK retaining control for Hong Kong Island and Kowloon while returning the New Territories to the PRC in 1997, if no agreements could be reached by then. As mortgages for property in Hong Kong were typically 15 years, without reaching an agreement on the future of Hong Kong in the early 80's, it was feared that the property market would collapse, causing a collapse of the general economy in Hong Kong. Constraints in the land lease in the New Terrorities were also pressing problems at that time. In fact, while negotiation concerning the future of Hong Kong had started in the late 1970s, the final timing of the Declaration was related to the land and property factors.
Aftermath
After signing of the declaration, a Sino-British Joint Liaison Group was set up according to the Annex II of the declaration.