Drawing extensively on the declassified British archives and Chinese sources, this book explores how Britain and China negotiated for Hong Kong’s future, and how Anglo-Chinese relations flourished after 1984. This original study argues that Thatcher was a pragmatic neoliberal, and the British diplomacy of ‘educating’ China yielded mixed results.
In the 1980s, Britain actively engaged with China in order to promote globalisation and manage Hong Kong’s decolonisation. Influenced by neoliberalism, Margaret Thatcher saw Britain as a global trading nation, which was well placed to serve China’s reform. During the negotiations over Hong Kong’s future, British diplomats aimed to educate the Chinese in free-market capitalism. Nevertheless, Deng Xiaoping held an alternative vision of globalisation, one that privileged sovereignty and socialism over market liberalism and democracy.
By drawing extensively upon the declassified British archives along with Chinese sources, this book explores how Britain and China negotiated for Hong Kong’s future, and how Anglo-Chinese relations flourished after 1984 but suffered a setback as a result of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. This original study argues that Thatcher was a pragmatic neoliberal, and the British diplomacy of ‘educating’ China yielded mixed results.
By:
Chi-kwan Mark (Senior Lecturer in International History)
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 17mm
Weight: 567g
ISBN: 9781526171320
ISBN 10: 1526171325
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 01 November 2023
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
General/trade
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction 1 Anglo-Chinese relations, 1979 2 Globalisation without decolonisation? Hong Kong, 1979–81 3 Not for (re)turning: Thatcher meets Deng Xiaoping, 1982 4 Bargaining for sovereignty and administration, 1982–83 5 Negotiating autonomy and continuity, 1984 6 Anglo-Chinese relations and postcolonial globalisation, 1985–86 7 Democratisation and its limits, 1985–89 Conclusion Index -- .
Chi-kwan Mark is Senior Lecturer in International History at Royal Holloway, University of London -- .
