Portal:Hong Kong/Selected article/2007/March

Hong Kong, 1970s

1970s in Hong Kong underwent many changes that shaped its future. Economically, it reinvented itself from a manufacturing base into a financial centre. The market also began leaning toward corporations and franchises.

Political talks about the Second Convention of Peking resurfaced in the early 70s. The New Territories land lease agreement would end within 27 years in 1997. Murray MacLehose began visiting Beijing to talk about the future of Hong Kong with PRC leaders.

The British government envisioned the possibility of extending the land lease agreement for many more years, thus shelving the problem for a long time. The fact was far from the vision, as the British and the PRC were engaged in a long and uncompromising negotiation eventually involving Margaret Thatcher. What was supposed to be a negotiation on extending the lease deal became a post-colonial framework timeline.