December 19, 1984 - Britain Hands Back Hong Kong - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

Margaret Thatcher hands Hong Kong back to China, effective 1997. Fearing an end to their freedoms and capitalist way of life, the six million residents of Hong Kong were hoping the British would leave them some protections when their lease for controlling the region expired in 1997. However, with few options available to her, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher signed the joint Sino-British declaration with China’s Zhao Ziyang during a ceremony on December 19, 1984. China agreed that for the next 50 years, it would give Hong Kong “a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs.” The two governments established a principle of "one country, two systems" through which communist China would allow Hong Kong to continue its capitalist ways, also granting it a certain number of rights and freedoms. Already, Hong Kong residents had been flocking to other countries or securing foreign passports enabling them to leave if they later chose; that greatly increased after the declaration was signed. Even though the British had never given Hong Kong full democracy before the declaration, they introduced democratic reforms after the signing that rubbed the Chinese government the wrong way. Nevertheless, Hong Kong citizens celebrated the July 1, 1997 handover with huge fanfare as communist Chinese took control.

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