The book is a systematic study of the China-Britain relationship during the 1942¿1949 period
with a particular focus on the two countries¿ discussions over both the 1943 Sino-British
treaty and the discarded Sino-British commercial treaty the future of Hong Kong and the
political status of Tibet. These were dominated by two underlying themes: the elimination of
the British imperialist position in China and the establishment of an equal and reciprocal
bilateral relationship. The negotiations started promisingly in 1942¿1943 but by 1949 had
failed to reach a satisfactory settlement. Behind the failure lay a complex set of domestic
considerations and external factors including the powerful infl uence of the United States.
Even after seven decades the failure still has a contemporary impact. Recent Sino-British
disputes over the Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement and incessant
Indo-Chinese confl icts and skirmishes over their unsettled borders all attest to the enduring
legacy of the years 1942¿1949 as setting the scene for subsequent Sino-British and Sino-Indian
relations. From this perspective the history has never left us.
