Forty-two years ago today, on July 12th, 1983 (June 3rd, 1983 in the lunar calendar), the second phase of talks between China and Britain on the future of Hong Kong began in Beijing. The second stage of negotiations: On July 12, 1983, the second stage of negotiations between China and Britain on the future of Hong Kong was held in Beijing. This phase of negotiations lasted for 14 months and held 22 rounds. At the beginning of the negotiations, the British side adhered to the position of "separation of sovereignty and governing power", that is, "under the principle of recognizing China's sovereignty over Hong Kong, Britain will generally govern Hong Kong as in the past". China, on the other hand, adheres to the position that sovereignty and governing power are indivisible, and believes that China's resumption of exercising sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 is complete sovereignty including the exercise of administrative power, rather than nominal "sovereignty" that has been overhead. The first three rounds of negotiations were basically separate and no progress was made. The fourth round of talks also ended in discord. In September 1983, when Deng Xiaoping met with former British Prime Minister Heath, he said that it would not be feasible for Britain to exchange sovereignty for governance. He advised the British side to change its attitude and avoid the situation that China had to unilaterally announce its principles and policies to solve the Hong Kong issue in September 1984. On October 14, 1983, Margaret Thatcher sent a letter to Chinese leaders, saying that the two sides could explore a lasting arrangement for Hong Kong on the basis of China's proposal. In the fifth and sixth rounds of negotiations held in late October and mid-November, the British side no longer adhered to the position of "exchanging sovereignty for rule", and the talks made progress. However, Margaret Thatcher wanted to let the British continue to play a role in the administration of Hong Kong after 1997, such as retaining a British governor, saying that this was essential to maintain Hong Kong's prosperity. The Chinese side sternly rejected this claim. Margaret Thatcher had to give in and agreed that if the two sides could reach a new arrangement, Britain would no longer insist on British governance, nor would it ask to play a role in Hong Kong after 1997, that is, it would no longer seek any form of Sino-British condominium. At this point, the main obstacles to Sino-British negotiations began to be eliminated. From December 1983 to April 1984, China and Britain held six rounds (7th to 12th rounds) of negotiations, the main topics of which were the arrangements after 1997 and related issues during the transition period. From May to September, the two sides held 10 rounds (13th to 22nd rounds) of negotiations in succession, mainly discussing the arrangements for the transition period before 1997 and the handover of power. The establishment of a joint institution in Hong Kong is one of the difficult problems in the negotiations, and the negotiations once reached a deadlock. In April 1984, British Foreign Secretary Jeffrey Howe visited China, which played an important role in promoting the talks. In July of the same year, Jeffrey Howe visited China again, held long talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wu Xueqian, and made significant progress. Deng Xiaoping met with Jeffrey Howe and expressed the hope that there would be no problems during the transition period and that China and Britain should cooperate better in the future. Comment: The second round of negotiations played an important role in the later signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration