Chinese Communists and Hong Kong Capitalists: 1937–1997

202 Pages·2010·2.654 MB·English

by  Cindy Yik-yi Chu (auth.)

Chinese Communists and
Hong Kong Capitalists
Also by Cindy Yik-yi Chu
Meigui xiunü (The Maryknoll Sisters). (2010).
Edited, The Diaries of the Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong, 1921–1966.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
Edited, Foreign Communities in Hong Kong, 1840s–1950s. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
The Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong, 1921–1969: In Love with the Chinese.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. (Chinese edition, 2007).
Edited with Ricardo K. S. Mak, China Reconstructs. (2003).
Edited with Lam Kai-yin, Yapian zhanzheng de zai renshi [A reappraisal of
the Opium War]. (2003).
Chinese Communists and
Hong Kong Capitalists:
1937–1997
Cindy Yik-yi Chu
Palgrave
macmillan
chinese communists and hong kong capitalists
Copyright © Cindy Yik-yi Chu, 2010.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-10799-1
All rights reserved.
First published in 2010 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States – a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-29085-7 ISBN 978-0-230-11391-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230113916
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chu, Cindy Yik-yi.
Chinese communists and Hong Kong capitalists : 1937–1997 /
Cindy Yik-yi Chu.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. China—Relations—China—Hong Kong. 2. Hong Kong (China)—
Relations—China. 3. Communists—China—History—20th century.
4. Capitalists and financiers—China—Hong Kong—History—20th century.
5. Businessmen—China—Hong Kong—History—20th century. 6. Elite
(Social sciences)—China—Hong Kong—History—20th century. 7. China—
Foreign relations—20th century. 8. Constitutional law—China—Hong
Kong—History—20th century. 9. Hong Kong (China)—Economic
conditions—20th century. 10. Hong Kong (China)—History—Transfer
of Sovereignty from Great Britain, 1997. I. Title.
DS740.5.G6H633 2010
324.251'0750951250904—dc22
2010013318
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by MPS Limited, A Macmillan Company
First edition: October 2010
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Transferred to Digital Printing in 2011
To Professor Stephen Uhalley, Jr.
Contents
Preface ix
Abbreviations xi
1 Introduction 1
2 The United Front Policy of the Chinese Communists in
Hong Kong during the Sino-Japanese War, 1937–1945 23
3 Overt and Covert Functions of the Hong Kong Branch of
the Xinhua News Agency, 1947–1984 41
4 The Origins of the Chinese Communist Alliance with the
Hong Kong Business Elite, the 1997 Question, and the
Basic Law Committees, 1979–1985 59
5 The Involvement of the Business Elite in the Drafting of
Hong Kong’s Basic Law and the Problems of the United
Front Policy, 1985–1990 77
6 The Chinese Communists’ United Front with Big Business
and Their Collaboration on the Handover, 1990–1997 95
7 The Selection of the Chief Executive, May–December 1996 113
8 Tung Chee-hwa and the Last Days of Colonial Hong Kong,
December 1996–June 1997 127
Notes 145
Bibliography 177
Index 189
Preface
This book studies the activities of the Chinese Communists in Hong Kong
from the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 to the hand over in 1997.
It points out that Hong Kong had been a special item on the Communists’
agenda—from being their station to the overseas audience to being the
icon of the achievements of China’s national unification. Throughout the
period, the Chinese Communists carried out a consistent united front
policy in Hong Kong, which was very different from their practice on the
mainland. The Communists sought alliance with the Hong Kong capital-
ists, who were the main targets of the united front effort. The history of the
Chinese Communists in Hong Kong differed significantly from that of their
past campaigns on the mainland. Therefore, this book traces a unique part
of Chinese Communist history, and six decades of astonishing united front
between the Chinese Communists and Hong Kong upper-class capitalists.
The present study aims at contributing to modern and contemporary
Chinese history. It examines the policies of the Chinese Communists (and
even the Nationalist government) toward Hong Kong and overseas Chinese.
In addition, it highlights an important aspect of the Sino-Japanese War,
namely, how the Communists and Nationalists in Hong Kong competed
for external resources for the war effort. This book critically evaluates six
decades of Chinese Communist activities in the territory. Importantly, it
looks at the Communist presence from a new perspective—through the
cooperation between the Chinese Communists and Hong Kong capitalists.
It also enhances our understanding of the role of the upper-class capitalists
in Hong Kong history.
I have been very appreciative of the education I received from Professor
Stephen Uhalley, Jr., Professor Sharon Minichiello, and the late Professor
Herbert F. Margulies. Also, I would like to thank my assistants Wong
Yiu-chung and Lai Tat-li for their diligent work.
Cindy Yik-yi Chu
April 1, 2010
Abbreviations
ACR Asian Commercial Research Limited
BLCC Basic Law Consultative Committee
BLDC Basic Law Drafting Committee
BPF Business and Professionals Federation
BPG Business and Professional Group
CCP Chinese Communist Party
CPPCC Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
CRC Co-operative Resources Centre
DAB Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong
Exco Executive Council
HK Xinhua Hong Kong Branch of the Xinhua News Agency
HKMAO Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council
HKMWC Hong Kong and Macao Work Committee
Legco Legislative Council
NPC National People’s Congress
PLA People’s Liberation Army
PRC People’s Republic of China
PWC Preliminary Working Committee
SAR Special Administrative Region
UN United Nations
1
Introduction
1. The Historical Question of Hong Kong
When Governor Sir Murray MacLehose visited Beijing in 1979, Deng
Xiaoping told him privately that the Chinese government must recover
its sovereignty over Hong Kong.1 This incident marked the beginning of
the 1997 question, which Beijing regarded as “a question left over from
history.” At the end of the Opium War with the signing of the Treaty
of Nanjing in 1842, China ceded Hong Kong to Britain. After British
and French troops occupied Beijing in 1859 and 1860, and destroyed
the Summer Palace, the Qing government had no choice but to sign the
Beijing Convention, which granted Britain the Kowloon Peninsula and
Stonecutters Island. In 1898, following the French, who had demanded a
ninety-nine year lease of Guangzhou Bay, the British asked for a similar
lease of the New Territories, which included 235 islands and two bays, up
to the year 1997.2 The Chinese Communists never recognized the above
treaties that the Qing government signed with the British. The expiration
of the lease of the New Territories on June 30, 1997, however, forced
Beijing to finally settle the Hong Kong question.
Although the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and the
International Court of Justice recognized the inequality of the treaties, this
did not necessarily make them invalid.3 Beijing insisted that they were void,
leading to controversy over their validity. While Beijing considered British
control over Hong Kong to be unlawful, it allowed the colonial presence as
the problem was of international concern, and any imprudent move would
arouse criticism overseas. In 1949, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) did
not move into Hong Kong but stopped near Shenzhen River. On May 6,
the editorial of Hong Kong’s Wenhuibao stated, “Discuss Sino-British
Relations and the Future of Hong Kong,” and noted that Hong Kong was in
a most advantageous situation as trade would drastically increase after the