Percy Cradock

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Percy Cradock : biography

26 October 1923 – 22 January 2010

The sign of failure of the United Kingdom in the Sino-British talks and the uncertainty of the future of Hong Kong greatly weakened the confidence of the people of Hong Kong in their future, which in turn provoked a crisis of confidence. In September 1983, the foreign exchange market recorded a sudden plummet of the exchange rate of the Hong Kong Dollar against the US Dollar. The drop of the Hong Kong Dollar instantly triggered a brief public panic in Hong Kong with crowds of people rushing to food stalls, trying to buy every bag of rice, food and daily commodities available. To stabilise the Hong Kong Dollar and to rebuild the confidence of the general public, the Hong Kong Government swiftly introduced the Linked Exchange Rate System in October, fixing the exchange rate at HK$7.8 per US Dollar. Nevertheless, the Chinese government accused the Hong Kong Government of deliberately manipulating the plummet of the Hong Kong Dollar, and threatened that if the Sino-British talks could not reach a satisfactory outcome within a year, they would unilaterally take the sovereignty of Hong Kong in their own way by 1997.Tsang, Steve, A Modern History of Hong Kong, p.224.

Cradock was deeply worried that China would leave the negotiation table and would act alone. With much effort, he managed to convince the government in November 1983 that the United Kingdom would surrender any claims on sovereignty or power of governance over Hong Kong after 1997. Such a move was generally regarded as the second major concession offered by the United Kingdom. After that, both sides reached consensus over a number of basic principles in the negotiations, including the implementation of "One Country Two Systems" after the transfer of sovereignty, the establishment of the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group before the transfer, and the creation of a new class of British nationality for the British nationals in Hong Kong, mostly ethnic Chinese, without offering them the right of abode in the United Kingdom.Tsang, Steve, A Modern History of Hong Kong, p.225. Although Cradock was succeeded by Sir Richard Evans as the British chief negotiator in January 1984, Cradock had made most of the agreements which later formed the foundation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration."Sir Percy Cradock: Ambassador to China, 1978-83", Times, 29 January 2010.Tsang, Steve, A Modern History of Hong Kong, p.222. To acknowledge his critical role in the Sino-British negotiations, he was promoted a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1983, having been a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George since 1980.

After rounds of negotiations, the Sino-British Joint Declaration was finally initialled by representatives of both Britain and China on 26 September 1984, and on 19 December, the Joint Declaration was formally signed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang in the Great Hall of the People. As one of the main draftsmen of the Joint Declaration, Cradock also witnessed the signing in person.《一九八四年大事回顧》,香港:無綫電視,1984年。 However, the Joint Declaration could not bring confidence to the people of Hong Kong. According to an opinion poll conducted shortly afterwards, only 16% of the respondents felt secured by it, while 76% of the respondents held a reserved attitude. Furthermore, 30% believed that "One Country Two Systems" suggested in the Joint Declaration would be unworkable, showing that the general public of Hong Kong were unsecured and in doubt towards the agreement made between Britain and China.蔡貞停編導,〈霧裡看花〉,《鏗鏘集》,香港:香港電台,1996年7月21日。

Quarrels leading up to 1997

When Cradock, a diplomat fluent in Mandarin, left the Sino-British talks in the end of 1983, it was rumoured that he would succeed Sir Edward Youde as Governor of Hong Kong. Yet, the rumour never turned into reality, and on the contrary, Cradock, who was dubbed as "Maggie’s Mandarin", had become a much trusted advisor to Margaret Thatcher who insisted that he should be posted back to London. By then Cradock had reached the diplomatic retirement age of 60, but Thatcher still appointed him as Deputy Under-Secretary of the Foreign Office and Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister, responsible for overseeing the Sino-British negotiations. After the signing of the Joint Declaration in December 1984, he was further appointed as Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee in 1985, rendering military strategic advice to the Prime Minister, while remaining as Foreign Affairs Advisor. Critics have commented that the reason for Thatcher entrusting him was because both of them regarded the Soviet Union as Britain’s biggest adversary, while the United States was the most important ally, and therefore they could always head to the same direction when making diplomatic decisions. Cradock continued to serve as her advisor through the general election in 1987,