Formed to oversee the implementation of the Joint Declaration a year after it was signed, the Joint Liaison Group stuck to its cardinal principle of continuity in talks - and on using the weather as a metaphor.
The 47 plenary sessions, from the first in 1985 to the last on Tuesday and yesterday, began with the diplomatic talk on weather from heavy downpours to a clear sky.
To borrow an analogy, the black rainstorm signal was raised in the aftermath of the June 4 killings that prompted the British side to call for a halt of the diplomatic talks.
It was only after six months that business returned to normal.
The post-Tiananmen era was marked by a sharp and bitter war of words and a more intense diplomatic tussle on a range of transitional issues.
In 1992, the two sides crossed swords when Chris Patten became the 'triple violator' with his proposals for political reform.
