Hong Kong in United States-China relations: The international politics of Hong Kong's reversion to Chinese sovereignty

• Main Author: TANG, James T. H.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 1997
• Subjects: Chinese sovereignty; Sino-US relations; sovereignty change; United States; China; Hong Kong; Asian Studies; International Relations; Political Science
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2163; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3420/viewcontent/Hong_Kong_in_United_States_China_relations_The_international_politics_of_Hong_Kong_s_reversion_to_Chinese_sovereignty.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This article examines the implications of the political transition of Hong Kong onUS-China relations in strategic, political and economic dimensions. It evaluates the impactof Hong Kong's changing status in the context of the engagement-containment debate onChina policy in the US. It suggests that US concerns over questions such as democracy andhuman rights and China's rejection of foreign interference' in Hong Kong would turn theterritory into a source of political conflict between the US and China. Finally it points outthat any major trade confrontation between the two countries would have serious implicationsfor the territory. The article concludes by arguing that if Hong Kong could continueto be a prosperous and free society with a global outlook, it would facilitate China'sintegration with the global community, but if a reversion to authoritarian rule occurred inHong Kong, US-China relations will be aversely affected.