2019/11/14 by Yui Chim Lo · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics #Colonialism #Negotiation #Legislature #China #Independence (probability theory) #Political science #Autonomy #Appeal #Democracy #Decolonization #Government (linguistics) #Law #Administration (probate law) #Sociology #Public administration #Politics
paper · doi:10.1080/03086534.2019.1689620
openalex publication_date 2019/11/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
As influential leaders in Hong Kong, the Unofficial Members of the Executive and Legislative Council (UMELCO) were arguably the only group of Hong Kong people permitted to take part in the Sino-British negotiations that defined the future of Hong Kong. But almost no studies have explored the broader significance of their participation in the negotiations. Using recently declassified British documents, this article argues that, in the wider history of decolonisation, UMELCO’s petition for British administration belonged to the less noticed voices that called for alternatives to independence. UMELCO’s participation also reveals how the negotiations challenged Hong Kong’s autonomy. Although governors at times advocated Hong Kong’s interests vis-a-vis London, the governor’s autonomy during the negotiations was restricted, so the appeal of UMELCO was further weakened. Although UMELCO wanted to preserve the existing system, their actions inadvertently boosted the rise of ‘Hong Kong people’ as an idea and encouraged local people to demand more democracy. The structure of ExCo, LegCo and the government was mostly inherited by post-1997 Hong Kong, while some of UMELCO shifted to the Chinese side, suggesting the irony that a supposedly anti-colonial China lived with a state that came largely from colonial rule.