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

Abstract

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