The somber faces of British officials were overshadowed by the sense of jubilation that erupted across mainland China yesterday as Hong Kong returned to Chinese control after 156 years of British rule.
Fireworks showered the midnight skies above Beijing's Tiananmen Square as Prince Charles of Great Britain boarded the royal yacht Brittania, marking its last voyage under the crown and an end to the British colonial era.
Hong Kong, under British sovereignty, was transformed from a quiet fishing village to a central port for the lucrative opium trade to a thriving modern metropolis.
Prince Charles, in a formal ceremony marking the handover, showed a great deal of emotion in expressing his gratitude to Hong Kong's residents for their role in building the former colony into a bustling worldwide commercial and trading center.
Under a 1984 treaty introducing the "one country, two systems" terms of transfer, the new Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong will be ruled by the people of Hong Kong and retain its own financial and trading systems, liberties and laws.
In the wake of the celebration, questions as to how Beijing's staid conservative communist leaders will deal with capitalist Hong Kong quickly emerged.
Pierre Landry, a University political science doctoral candidate, said personal freedoms in Hong Kong will be bridled almost immediately.
"There will be curbs on demonstrations, no one will be allowed to question the independence of Hong Kong, Taiwan or Tibet or the Communist Party of China's right to rule," Landry said.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin, in trying to alleviate concerns about potentially drastic changes in Hong Kong residents' economic and personal liberties, pledged that China will retain the spirit of the treaty.
However, immediately after taking control, 4,000 Chinese troops rolled into the former British colony, evoking images of soldiers entering Tiananmen Square nearly a decade ago.
Political science doctoral candidate Andrew Mertha, who lived in Hong Kong for two years, said the troops were meant not as a show of force to Hong Kong's citizens, but instead intended to give a new face to the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
"The troops were deliberately non-threatening," Mertha said. The Chinese government "used the opportunity of having cameras and press in Hong Kong" to show the world "a different image of the PLA than troops in Tiananmen."
Economics doctoral candidate Su Sun is optimistic that the transfer will not adversely affect Hong Kong's economy. Instead, he said that further integration of Hong Kong and the mainland markets may help the Chinese economy better interact with the rest of the world.
"China is a huge market with tons of opportunities for foreign investors," Sun said. "Hong Kong is a perfect landing strip for them."
Economics professor David Li is "cautiously optimistic" about the future of Hong Kong's economy. On the political front, he said, China's leaders may initially have trouble adjusting to Hong Kong residents' far-reaching freedoms.
AP PHOTO
The Chinese People's Liberation Army crosses the Lok Ma Chau border from China after the Hong Kong handover Monday. Thirty-nine vehicles carrying 509 PLA troops crossed the border for the first time.
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