Hong Kong handover ceremony

The handover ceremony of Hong Kong in 1997 officially marked the transfer of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China. It was an internationally televised event with the ceremony commencing on the night of June 30, 1997, and finishing on July 1, 1997, at the new wing of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) in Wan Chai.

Representatives

For the People's Republic of China
*Jiang Zemin, President of the People's Republic of China
*Li Peng, Premier of the People's Republic of China
*Tung Chee-hwa, Chief Executive of Hong Kong
*Qian Qichen, Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
*Zhang Wannian, Vice-Chairman of the Central Military CommissionFor the United Kingdom
*HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales (representing Queen Elizabeth II)
*Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
*Chris Patten, Governor of Hong Kong
*Robin Cook, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
*Charles Guthrie, Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom

Order of events

Monday June 30, 1997

* (15:00 HKT/15:00 Beijing Time) - Beijing Police cleared more than 60,000 people off Tiananmen Square.

* (16:30 HKT/08:30 GMT) - Governor Chris Patten departed from the Government House for HMY "Britannia".

* (17:30 HKT/17:30 Beijing Time) - President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng arrived in Hong Kong by CAAC Boeing 747 from Shenzhen.

* (18:00 HKT/10:00 GMT) - British Hong Kong troops farewell ceremony was held. The last Hong Kong governor Chris Patten began his speech with "Today is a day of celebration, today is not a day of sorrow".

* (18:15 HKT/10:15 GMT) - Sunset farewell ceremony featuring East Tamar Garrison parade on Hong Kong waterfronts.

* (--:-- HKT) - Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen met with British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.

* (19:30 HKT/11:30 GMT) - Cocktail reception for 4,000 guests at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

* (19:45 HKT/11:45 GMT) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair meets for summit talks with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

* (21:00 HKT/13:00 GMT) - About 500 People's Liberation Army vehicles crossed the border from China to Hong Kong. Pro-democracy advocates protest at Legislative Council in preparation of Chinese rule.

* (22:00 HKT/22:00 Beijing Time) - Beijing Celebration including live performances and fireworks was expected to run for 7 hours. The theme of "Beijing Blesses you Hong Kong" was under preparation.

* (23:30 HKT/15:30 GMT) - Handover Ceremony officially begins. The Prince of Wales read a farewell speech on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.

* (23:59:59 HKT/15:59:59 GMT) - Moments before midnight, the Union Flag and the Hong Kong colonial flag were slowly lowered to the British national anthem God Save the Queen, symbolising the end of British colonial rule in Hong Kong. After those flags were lowered, the Flag of the People's Republic of China and the new Regional Flag of Hong Kong were simultaneously raised to the Chinese national anthem, March of the Volunteers.

Tuesday July 1, 1997

* (00:00 HKT/16:00 GMT) - British sovereignty of Hong Kong is officially transferred to China. President Jiang Zemin gave a speech expressing his optimism for the "one country, two systems" implementation. Grand celebrations begin in the mainland with fireworks displays over Tiananmen Square.

* (00:15 HKT/16:15 GMT) - Prince Charles and Governor Patten, with his family, bid the citizens of Hong Kong farewell at the Tamar site. They boarded the HM Yacht "Britannia", and returned to Britain. They were escorted by HMS Chatham (F87) under Bryan Dutton's command. Tony Blair and other British officials flew back to Britain by plane.

* (01:30 HKT/17:30 PM GMT) - A swearing-in ceremony was held at the HKCEC for various Hong Kong SAR officials including Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan, Financial Secretary Donald Tsang, Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung, and others.

* (02:45 HKT/18:45 GMT) - Provisional legislature held first meeting after the handover to adopt handover-related laws.

* (06:00 HKT/22:00 GMT) - 4,000 People's Liberation Army troops from the Hong Kong Garrison arrive by land, air and sea.

* (10:00 HKT/02:00 GMT) - The new Hong Kong government hosted a celebration for 4,600 guests. Newly appointed Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa made his inaugural speech.

* (16:30 HKT/16:30 Beijing Time) - Chinese Premier Li Peng makes a speech at a reception in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

* (18:30 HKT/18:30 Beijing Time) - Festival Performance by Hong Kong, mainland and international celebrities at the Hong Kong Coliseum.

* (20:00 HKT/20:00 Beijing Time) - Grand convention and art spectacle begins at the Workers Stadium in Beijing.

* (20:30 HKT/20:30 Beijing Time) - The '97 Hong Kong Spectacular featuring Victoria Harbour fireworks display begins.

Reactions

In 2005, the British "Mail on Sunday" revealed Prince Charles's diary entries, where he referred to the transfer as the "Great Chinese Takeaway", and the Chinese officials as "appalling old waxworks". In another reported extract, Prince Charles described the ceremony as an "awful Soviet-style" performance and dismissed the speech by Jiang Zemin as "propaganda", complete with loud cheering "by the bussed-in party faithful at the suitable moment in the text." He also ridiculed the People's Liberation Army's goose-steps in the ceremony and claimed his trip on the HMY "Britannia" out of Hong Kong was closely watched by Chinese warships.

References

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2005/nov/19/pressandpublishing.china Charles sues Mail for printing his 'waxworks' jibe at Chinese leaders, "Guardian,", 19 November 2005]
* [http://www.cnd.org/CND-Global/CND-Global.97.2nd/CND-Global.97-06-30a.html "China News Digest" global timeline of the handover]

External links

* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3877286912163768412 Footage of the handover ceremony on Google Video (ceremony in Mandarin and English, commentary in Cantonese)]