and representatives from more than 40 other countries and dozens of international organizations.
Order of events
Monday, 30 June 1997
(15:00
Hong Kong Time/07:00
London Time) –
Beijing Police cleared more than 60,000 people off
Tiananmen Square for the final preparations of the all-night official celebration gala to mark the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.
(16:30 Hong Kong Time/08:30 London Time) – Governor Chris Patten departed from Government House for
HMY Britannia after the flag lowering ceremony of the
Governor's flag. The bugle call "
Last Post" and Patten's favourite pipe tune "
Highland Cathedral" was played during the ceremony.[3]
(17:30 Hong Kong Time/09:30 London Time) – President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng arrived in Hong Kong by
Air ChinaBoeing 747 from
Shenzhen.
(18:15 Hong Kong Time/10:15 London Time) – Sunset farewell ceremony featuring East Tamar Garrison parade on Hong Kong waterfronts. Chris Patten began his final speech as a governor of Hong Kong with "Today is a day of celebration, not sorrow". The bugle call "
Sunset" was played for the final time to mark the end of official duties of the
British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. Auld Lang Syne and
Rod Stewart'sRhythm of My Heart was also performed during the ceremony.[4]
(18:30 Hong Kong Time/10:30 London Time) – Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen met with British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.
(20:45 Hong Kong Time/12:45 London Time) – Prime Minister Tony Blair meets for summit talks with President Jiang Zemin.
(21:30 Hong Kong Time/13:30 London Time) – Cocktail reception for 4,000 guests at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
(22:00 Hong Kong Time/14:00 London Time) – Beijing celebrations including live performances and fireworks were expected to run for 7 hours. The theme of Beijing Blesses you Hong Kong was under preparation.
(23:45 Hong Kong Time/15:45 London Time) – Handover Ceremony officially begins. The
Prince of Wales reads a farewell speech on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.
(23:59:00-23:59:47 Hong Kong Time/15:59:00-15:59:47 London Time) – Exactly one minute before midnight the
Flag of the United Kingdom and the
flag of British Hong Kong were slowly lowered to the British national anthem "
God Save the Queen", symbolizing the end of British colonial rule in Hong Kong as very final and last time. A hiatus of exactly twelve seconds occurred between the British and the Chinese anthems due to a timing misunderstanding.[5][6]
(00:15 Hong Kong/Beijing Time) – Charles, Prince of Wales and Governor Chris Patten with his family, bid the citizens of Hong Kong farewell at the
Tamar site. They boarded HMY Britannia and sailed to
Manila in the
Philippines before heading back to the United Kingdom. They were escorted by
HMS Chatham. Prime Minister Tony Blair and other British officials flew out by a
British AirwaysBoeing 777-200ER from
Kai Tak Airport to
London's
Heathrow Airport.[7]
(01:30 Hong Kong/Beijing Time) – A swearing-in ceremony was held at the HKCEC for various HKSAR officials including Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, Chief Secretary for Administration
Anson Chan, Financial Secretary
Donald Tsang and Secretary for Justice
Elsie Leung.
(02:45 Hong Kong/Beijing Time) – The provisional legislature held its first meeting after the handover to adopt handover-related laws.
(06:00 Hong Kong/Beijing Time) – 4,000-People's Liberation Army troops from the Hong Kong Garrison arrive by land, air and sea.
(10:00 Hong Kong/Beijing Time) – The new Hong Kong government hosted a celebration for 4,600-guests. Newly appointed Chief Executive's Tung Chee-hwa makes his inaugural speech.
(16:00 Hong Kong/Beijing Time) –
Chinese Premier Li Peng makes a speech at a reception in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
(18:00 Hong Kong/Beijing Time) – Festival Performance by
Hong Kong mainland and international celebrities at the
Hong Kong Coliseum.
(19:00 Hong Kong/Beijing Time) – Grand convention and art spectacle begins at the
Workers Stadium in Beijing.
(20:00 Hong Kong/Beijing Time) – The 1997 Hong Kong Spectacular across
Victoria Harbour from
Causeway Bay to Central, Hong Kong fireworks display begins.
Reactions
In 2005, the British Mail on Sunday revealed Prince Charles's memorandum, of which "
Clarence House said only 11 copies were made, circulated to close friends",[8] where he referred to the transfer as the "Great Chinese Takeaway" and the Chinese officials as "appalling old waxworks". In another reported extract, Prince Charles described the ceremony as an "awful
Soviet-style" performance and dismissed the speech by
Chinese leaderJiang Zemin as "propaganda", complete with loud cheering "by the bussed-in party faithful at the suitable moment in the text." He also ridiculed the People's Liberation Army's
goose-steps in the ceremony and claimed his trip on
HMY Britannia out of Hong Kong was closely watched by Chinese warships.
The 12-second silence between the British and Chinese anthems has been adapted into the 2019 film My People, My Country.[9]