Background
Political talks about the Second Convention of Peking resurfaced in the early 70s. The New Territories land lease agreement would end within 27 years in 1997. Then-Governor of Hong Kong Murray MacLehose began visiting Beijing to talk about the future of Hong Kong with PRC leaders.
The British government envisioned the possibility of extending the land lease agreement for many more years, thus shelving the problem for a long time. The fact was far from the vision, as the British and the PRC were engaged in a long and uncompromising negotiation eventually involving Margaret Thatcher. What was supposed to be a negotiation on extending the lease deal became a post-colonial framework timeline.
Read more about this topic: 1970s In Hong Kong
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