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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
OBJECTIVES
This thesis examines three cases of diplomatic negotiations between Britainand the People’s Republic of China (PRC) concerning Hong Kong that were heldbetween 1982 and 1993. It attempts to explore whether there is a peculiar andpredictable Chinese diplomatic negotiating style, as some scholars have assertedwith regard to China’s negotiating with other countries.
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The Sino-British
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Kenneth T. Young noted an “adversary” and “frustratingly predictable” Chinesediplomatic negotiating style in his study of PRC-US Ambassadorial talks. See Kenneth T.Young,
Negotiating with the Chinese Communists: The United States Experiences, 1955-67
(New York: McGraw-Hill Book, 1968), p. 338. Richard H. Solomon in his brief analysis of the normalisation of PRC-US diplomatic relations in the 1970s also observed a“distinctive” and “predictable” Chinese diplomatic negotiating style. See Richard H.Solomon, “China: Friendship and Obligation in Chinese Negotiating Style” in HansBinnendijk (ed.),
National Negotiating Styles
(Washington DC: Foreign Services Institute,US Department of State, 1987), p. 1. Chang Jaw-ling also found a very similar Chinesenegotiating style in the Sino-Portuguese talks over the question of Macao (1986-87) and inthe Sino-British talks over Hong Kong’s future (1982-84). See Chang Jaw-ling, “Settlementof the Macao Issue: Distinctive Features of Beijing’s Negotiating Behaviour”,
Journal of International Law
, Vol. 20 No. 1 (Winter 1988), p. 253-278; Chang Jaw-ling, “China’s
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