Description
This paper examines how the Joint Declaration has been instrumentalised since 2014 by the British and Chinese governments in relation to Hong Kong and to wider issues in the bilateral relationship. It shows how both governments (and broader policy elites) have taken positions on the JD which are motivated and shaped as much or more by their present political concerns, interests and identity as by questions of history or international law in relation to Hong Kong. This dynamic comes to the fore in disagreement over the status of the JD, statements about the nature of the other side, and the lack of common ground on how to interpret recent developments in Hong Kong or on the way forward. The paper is based on analysis of British and Chinese statements about the JD from 2014 to 2023, contextualised by discussion of developments in Hong Kong and the wider bilateral relationship against a backdrop of geopolitical change. Conceptually, the paper connects with a ‘historical statecraft’ scholarship that examines the ways that history is instrumentalised as a resource for policy makers.
