Sino-British Negotiations and the Search for a Post-War Settlement, 1942–1949: Treaties, Hong Kong, and Tibet

Description

The book is a systematic study of the China-Britain relationship during the 1942–1949 period with a particular focus on the two countries’ discussions over both the 1943 Sino-British treaty and the discarded Sino-British commercial treaty, the future of Hong Kong, and the political status of Tibet. These were dominated by two underlying themes: the elimination of the British imperialist position in China and the establishment of an equal and reciprocal bilateral relationship. The negotiations started promisingly in 1942–1943, but, by 1949, had failed to reach a satisfactory settlement. Behind the failure lay a complex set of domestic considerations and external factors, including the powerful infl uence of the United States. Even after seven decades, the failure still has a contemporary impact. Recent Sino-British disputes over the Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement and incessant Indo-Chinese confl icts and skirmishes over their unsettled borders all attest to the enduring legacy of the years 1942–1949 as setting the scene for subsequent Sino-British and Sino-Indian relations. From this perspective, the history has never left us. Original research drawing on archival sources in China, Britain and the United States First study to conjointly analyse three Sino-British areas of contention: treaties, Hong Kong, and Tibet Acknowledgements Abstract Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations List of Maps Note on the Text Romanisation Introduction Chapter I. Negotiations over the Abolition of British Extraterritoriality and Other Related Rights in China, 1942–1943 Chapter II. The Abortive Sino-British Commercial Treaty, 1943–1948 Chapter III. The Question of Hong Kong in Sino-British Relations, 1942–1945 Chapter IV. The Unsettled Future of Hong Kong, 1946–1949 Chapter V. Tibet and the Wartime Sino-British Relationship, 1942–1944 Chapter VI. The Last Sino-British Rivalry for Tibet, 1944–1947 Conclusion Bibliography Index