Jake's View | A silent reward for a timely kowtow?
One theory has it that Beijing and London gained much from a deal over HK's airport
Sino-British talks on building the new airport at Chek Lap Kok almost broke down in 1991 after Beijing insisted the agreement be signed by the two heads of government in the Chinese capital, according to a new book by a former top mainland official.
SCMP, September 19
I like conspiracy theories and here is one for you: the reason former British prime minister John Major was ready to be the first head of a major Western government to visit Beijing after the Tiananmen incident in 1989 is that he expected to be rewarded for this grovel.
And he was. This conspiracy theory says there was never any serious danger of the talks breaking down. Both sides had objectives important to themselves and both found that they could accommodate each other's objectives by looking aside a little when the embarrassing bits came up.
Beijing's objective was to regain the unreserved recognition of foreign governments following the suppression of the protest movements of 1989. Although the foreign embassies were still in place, foreign good opinion was not. Only banana republics would make official visits of state. For two years major Western governments treated China as a pariah.
Britain was the icebreaker with Mr Major's visit and he was not entirely happy about it. Word had it afterwards that one reason David Wilson did not serve another term as governor of Hong Kong was that his prime minister had been called on to do too many kowtows in Beijing. Mr Major looked aside and did them nonetheless.