The challenge of the 1997 Hong Kong handover for Taiwan

The reversion of Hong Kong necessarily compresses both the space and time i n which cross-strait relations operate. The buffer zone gradually disappear s and the time span for resolving the Taiwan issue shrinks. However, for th e short and medium term, we witnessed a growing convergence between Taipei and Beijing over their respective policies toward Taiwan-Hong Kong relation s during the crucial juncture of the 1997 handover, despite the big chill i n cross-strait relations. As both sides reviewed their respective policy op tions on Taiwan-Hong Kong relations, they were persuaded by a comparable re ading of the huge political and economic stake that they both had in the st atus quo. At the same time, each worked through a very different kind of st rategic calculation but reached a very similar conclusion: Hong Kong is not the place and 1997 not the time to score political points in the cross-str ait interaction.