Today in History-December 19
December 191984: Britain signs over Hong Kong to China
Hong Kong has been a British colony since 1842
1984: Britain signs over Hong Kong to China
England have
The British colony of Hong Kong is to be returned to China in 1997 after an
historic agreement was signed in Peking today.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher signed the Joint Sino-British Declaration
with her Chinese counterpart Zhao Ziyang.
It formally seals the future of Hong Kong, transferring it from a British
colony of six million people to communist China in 13 years.
The agreement, which will end 155 years of British rule in the colony, also
launches a new era in trade and diplomacy between the two countries.
Chinese president Deng Xiaoping, who pursued the recovery of Hong Kong,
greeted Mrs Thatcher.
The champagne ceremony took place at the Great Hall of the People before
delegates who helped draw up the agreement, including 101 guests from Hong
Kong.
Mrs Thatcher said: "The circumstances are unique. The agreement is
unique.
"It is right that we should feel a sense of history, of pride and of
confidence in the future."
The declaration outlines Hong Kong will be "restored" to the People's
Republic of China with effect from July 1 1997 and will apply for fifty
years.
It will be known as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR).
Britain has agreed to return Hong Kong after guarantees it will "enjoy a
high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs".
And China's principle of "one country, two systems" allows Hong Kong to
have a capitalist economy and enjoy existing rights and freedoms.
The Prime Minister later revealed the negotiation process had been
rocky.
When Mrs Thatcher last visited Peking in 1982 the atmosphere was hostile as
an agreement could not be reached.
Talks restarted in July 1983 and today's agreement, which was finalised
only ten days before the 30 September deadline, is being hailed as a diplomatic
coup.
Mrs Thatcher will visit Hong Kong tomorrow during her whistle-stop world
tour.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has made a long journey in from the cold
2003: Libya gives up chemical weapons
Artificially 1969:
The Libya has made a surprise announcement undertaking to destroy its
arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.
The government of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has also agreed to allow
weapons inspectors into Libya immediately and unconditionally to oversee the
elimination.
Under the agreement, Libya, which is included on the US list of state
sponsors of terrorism, will dismantle its weapons of mass destruction and limit
the range of its missiles to no more than 300 km (186 miles).
It emerged that Tripoli has already allowed US and British experts to see
elements of the weapons programmes during two trips to Libya in October and
December this year.
In its statement today, the Libyan Foreign Ministry said: " believes
that the arms race will neither serve its security nor the region's security and
contradicts great concern for a world that enjoys peace and
security."
The statement has been welcomed by the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair,
and the US President, George W Bush, who made televised addresses almost at the
same time.
President Bush said the agreement, signed after nine months of secret
negotiations, would "make the world and America a safer place, and the world
more peaceful".
He went on to hint that tough US sanctions on Libya would be scrapped if
Tripoli kept its word.
Mr Blair praised the decision as "historic" and "courageous".
"It shows that the problems of proliferation can be tackled through
discussion and engagement," he said.
He revealed that Libya had approached Britain in March with an offer to
open discussions on WMD.
Until then, intelligence officers had suspected that it was working on
chemical and biological weapons but had never been able to confirm it.
Mr Blair said Libya had acknowledged it was working towards developing a
nuclear weapon, and had got close to achieving its objective.
The breakthrough is the latest in a series of developments which have
thawed previously frosty relations between Libya and the West.
One of the most significant was Tripoli's admission of responsibility in
August this year for the Lockerbie air disaster in 1988, in which 270 people
died.
Colonel Gadaffi agreed to pay $2.7bn compensation to relatives of those
killed in the attack, paving the way for UNsanctionsagainst Libya to be lifted
in September.
Vocabulary:
sanction: having no precedent or example(同意;许可)
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