Sino-British Joint Declaration significant event ratification
Nationality and the Joint Liaison Group
Negotiations in 1984 centred on nationality and the role of the Joint Liaison Group. British negotiators and Hong Kong Executive Council members wanted to ensure the continued status of Hongkongers as British Dependent Territories citizens (BDTCs) after the transfer of sovereignty, but the Chinese would not allow this and even demanded that further granting of BDTC status be halted immediately. Although there were debates in the British Parliament on granting all residents British Overseas citizenship that could be transferred to children for up to two generations after 1997, this was not implemented and the Joint Declaration instead provided for a new status to be created. The Chinese initially wanted the Joint Liaison Group to act as an oversight committee during the transition period of administering Hong Kong up to the handover date. At the insistence of Governor Youde and Executive Council members, the group was limited in its scope to be strictly advisory.A bilateral working group was created in June 1984 to draft the text of the treaty and its annexes. This was completed in three months, and on 26 September 1984, a draft copy of the Joint Declaration was initialed by British Ambassador to China Richard Evans and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhou Nan. The final version was signed on 19 December 1984 by Prime Minister Thatcher and Premier Zhao in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing; the treaty came into force when instruments of ratification were exchanged on 27 May 1985 and was registered at the United Nations by both governments on 12 June 1985.