Big Trouble in Little Hong Kong
In June of 1982, the world waited with bated breath as the latest Lucasfilms' movie, 'The Kung Fu Kid' was released for global cinema. The foreign ministeries and departments of the Pacific Rim counted down the clock with extreme nervousness and the stock market would undergo its fourth highest drop. The world was fearful that this movie about an American teen learning Kung Fu would cause the next great war of the 20th century. It was a silly concept, but one that was absolutely with merit considering a film from Lucasfilms about Dracula caused one of the bloodiest wars in history which saw Romania overthrow its Communist government and completely flipped the paradigm of the Cold War.
The legacy of 'Dracula: Blood Origins' was immense, one of those butterflies being in how it caused the complete deterioration of relations between China and the US due to a paranoid Chinese Communist Party ordering the assassination of Bruce O'Brian to stop the spread of anti-Communist revolution. The Kung Fu Kid was written and produced by Bruce O'Brian, who only didn't direct and star due to fear for his life from Chinese retaliation and age respectively. In spite of Bruce O'Brian's repeated insistence that Kung Fu Kid was an apolitical dedication to Bruce Lee, the timing had many governments convinced it was a secret revolutionary creation. Such was the hysteria that the CIA would be given a reel of Kung Fu Kid to study in Langley for any potential to incite a revolution. Only after days of analysis did Langley give the greenlight, and even still the Pentagon and Langley were nervous opening weekend with many pizzas ordered for a potential crisis.
Fortunately, no great Revolution would commence and despite saber ratting from China, life continued on. In regards to The Kung Fu Kid and Dracula: Blood Origins, there were a great deal of differences to Romania which prevented a revolution. Dracula had been a film of quasi-nationalism which was tied deeply to Romanian identity and was relatable to half a century of oppression that the nation experienced, not to mention its distribution in Romania had been hijacked by a conspiracy of anti-Communist patriots. Kung Fu Kid was a true sports movie focused on self-improvement and growth with a theme that offensive violence and attacks through hatred were morally wrong. Hong Kong, while a city that had suffered many abuses from the British Crown, hadn't come close to Romania's oppression in recent memory and recently experienced some forms of liberalism. Not to mention that the film's themes had more of a greater anti-colonial message than anti-Chinese as the antagonists were a British colonial and an American veteran twisted by trauma from Korea. There was no subliminal Nationalist or anti-Communist messages to incite a bloody revolution, and Hong Kongers were simply happy to witness the debut of their beloved Bruce Lee's son.
However, while the world breathed a sigh of relief as peace would reign in East Asia, it did not mean that Kung Fu Kid had no legacy or anti-Communist influences, though not close to the same effect as Romania.
For the past two years, Hong Kong had seen a tremendous paradigm shift in public opinion on the People's Republic of China. Just over a decade ago, public sentiment was strongly in favor of unification as evidenced in the 1967 Hong Kong riots. The normalization of China's place in the diplomatic world and entry into the global economy further convinced the people of Hong Kong that a return to China was an inevitability. However, everything would be changed starting with Romania, where the Romanian Genocide gave the world a grave reminder of the greatest depths of Communism's evil. Within Hong Kong, anti-Communists were incensed and galvanized, while the generations who lived through World War II received strong flashbacks to the evils of the Imperial Japanese Army and their flagrant use of biological warfare.
Still, those for unification argued that these were the crimes of the Soviet Union, and that the People's Republic was a different, more pure brand of Communism. These arguments became harder to defend when a new wave of refugees from the mainland started to trickle into Hong Kong. These refugees shared tales of a renewal of the Cultural Revolution, where spurred on by fears of a homegrown Romania, the Red Guards were given new life to root out and any all signs of anti-Communist values and culture, past and present. Then there was the Sino-Vietnamese War, where China launched a war of aggression on a nominal Communist ally, all with the ultimate goal of preserving the rule of Pol Pot, an evil and twisted man who was later exposed to be one of history's most disgusting monsters. The global spread of knowledge of Pol Pot's crimes put a freeze on the second phase of the Cultural Revolution for fear of further alienation, but it already prompted many in Hong Kong to imagine that Beijing, condoning the crimes of Pol Pot would commit the same evils at home.
The tipping point that launched anti-PRC sentiments into the mainstream, if not a majority would be the attempted assassination of Bruce O'Brian. While Bruce had only stayed in Hong Kong for less than a year, his frequently outspoken love for the city and Cantonese culture had endeared Bruce to Hong Kong. Star Wars like in much of the rest of the world, was one of the most popular films in Hong Kong and Lucasfilms' had released an anime series called Pacific Rim which painted the series favorably as a bastion of humanity standing against extinction. The news that such a beloved and idolized man had nearly been killed along with his family in their home by a Triad assassin had planted the image of the CCP in the minds of many in Hong Kong as a firmly evil organization that would kill the innocent for imaginary crimes. Protests erupted in Hong Kong in the aftermath, and many of its people who had once been proponents of unification now looked at the concept with disgust, along with a general sense of renewed dread at the approaching expiration of the British lease.
At the same time, there had been a new movement, largely arising separately of anti-PRC sentiments but in some aspects growing out of them. The Pro-Democracy Camp was a movement with the stated goal of pushing for universal suffrage and home rule in Hong Kong where the people had no say and all power was concentrated in the Governor's office. The movement lacked cohesion and strong organization, being split among many ideological flavors. Most especially were three separate camps for independence, retention as a British colony, or unification with mainland China, though the latter group seemed to be shrinking by the day.
The Pro-Democracy Camp was heavily inspired by the recent changes against authoritarianism. Most especially was the Seoul Spring where the people had arisen against an authoritarian junta and had successfully gained the alliance of the military to install a functioning liberal democracy. South Korea was considered to be the golden model for the Camp with other inspiring examples of change like Taiwan and even to an extent Romania motivated the Camp that Democracy was on the rise globally and the Cold War would soon be at an end. Various leaders emerged from all walks of life, but there lacked a certain spark to incite true change.
Said spark would come in September of 1982 when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would travel to Beijing to negotiate the status of Hong Kong. Thatcher was invigorated by the recent total success of the UK in the Falklands War, the conflict confirming the UK's status as a Great Power. Thatcher was under the belief that the UK, having recently shown its strength, would make China concede to Hong Kong remaining a colony. In return, Thatcher would give them a carrot in offering to push for China's reintroduction into the global economy and normalizing relations, most importantly stopping the flood of returning relations to the Republic of China.
Thatcher envisioned that she would be Britain's Nixon and be the one who went to China and opened it up, conveniently ignoring how Nixon's Visit was now considered a stain in American politics and a major failure of his legacy. Unfortunately for Thatcher, she was rather adamant in Hong Kong remaining a colony as the only solution. To China who considered Chinese colonies as the last stains of the Century of Humiliation, it was anathema to their agenda, especially after so many successive foreign failures.
A diplomatic failure would not necessarily be a horrible thing, but Thatcher for better or worse had hyped up her trip to China in the hopes of a grand and glorious return. But where Neville Chamberlain at least had a signed paper, Thatcher returned with nothing. While it was an minor embarrassment in Britain with taunts by Labour, in Hong Kong, the absolute failure of the talks struck deep fear within the hearts of its people and gave a sense that Britain was useless in long-term defense. Even more damagingly was how the Chinese General Secretary was quoted on record by British journalists that China would never tolerate a Democratic nor Capitalist Hong Kong.
Thus, with the British failing them and union with China leading to a dangerous future, many with Hong Kong felt there was only one course left, independence. On September 23rd, students at the University of Hong Kong organized a campus protest in favor of independence. What was meant to be a solely collegiate affair inspired a cascade of other pro-independence groups to launch their own protests across the city. Independence movements sparked some counter protests from British loyalists and the now established minority of pro-PRC supporters, leading to Hong Kong seeing over 400,000 protestors take to the streets, making known their vision for Hong Kong. While the handover was still 15 years away, to many if they didn't fight now then they would effectively be surrendering to Beijing.
"Peter, Francis, please speak plainly to me and hold nothing back. Do you see a viable future in which Hong Kong can remain a colony of the United Kingdom?" Asked Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to the two men sitting across from her in her office in 10 Downing, Foreign Secretary Lord Peter Carrington and Defense Secretary Francis Pym.
Only a year ago regarded as one of the most unpopular Prime Ministers in British history with her sole policy of public approval being stalwart support of Romania against the Soviet Union, Margaret Thatcher had experienced a recent 180 in public opinion thanks to the Falklands War where she had successfully defended some of the last remnants of the British Empire against Argentine aggression, a splendid little war with absolute British victory done in large part thanks to Thatcher's naval modernization program following Romania. The first total British victory since World War II combined with the economy finally seeing the end of recession and major growth had salvaged Thatcher's Ministry with the Conservatives now set for a competitive election against Labour, and if polling trends continued a firm majority next year.
Banking on her newfound reputation as the "Iron Lady" and riding on the recent show of British strength, Thatcher resolved to boost her Ministry's record at defending the Empire by reaching an accord with China over the status of Hong Kong. While recent Labour governments had seen a growing consensus that Hong Kong would be turned over at the end of the century, the attempted O'Brian assassination had driven up great feelings of Sinophobia among the general British public, most of whom adored Bruce's films and could no longer trust China when the CCP sent mafia assasins to kill children.
Thatcher was more than happy to join Carter and the rest of the West in sanctions against China, but she didn't go the full way with breaking relations or an embargo, nevermind Reagan's radcialism in successfully pushing for a restoration of relations with Taiwan, meaning until at least a Democrat was voted back into the White House, America recognized the ROC as the only one China in spite of the awkwardness of Beijing keeping the security council seat. Thatcher was more than sympathetic and personally wanted to join in, but she couldn't break relations or else Hong Kong's water, mostly imported from the mainland would be cut off and the city would be dehydrated, forced to ration like the 50's and 60's which was one of the many reasons Hong Kong was intensely for reunification until two years ago.
To further protect the Empire, Thatcher travelled to Beijing in September in the hopes of affirming the existing treaties, if nothing else than to save face. Unfortunately for Thatcher, the CCP was a heavily fractured institution in constant turmoil and infighting since China's estrangement from the greater world. Thatcher could not conduct simple negotiations when there were a handful of diplomats with conflicting agendas claiming to represent the Foreign Ministry while the highest echelons of the Party were in gridlock with high power shifting in "Gangs" as a oriental mirror of the Soviet Troika.
The closest Thatcher could get to success was some officials being open minded to a possible compromise of Britain keeping Hong Kong Island and Kowloon while the New Territories could be returned at 1997, but an outright retention of Hong Kong as a whole colony was met with universal condemnation, one Deng Xiaoping even going so far as to boldly state that China could take over the city in an afternoon and there would be nothing to stop them.
Thus, Thatcher left empty handed, and ironically her failure lead to the incitement of mass protests with most of Hong Kong now against annexation by the mainland. However, being against rule from Beijing did not mean that the locals were necessarily in favor of rule from London.
Peter Carrington sighed, "Ma'am, I can't foresee any realistic future where we retain the colony barring total collapse on the Mainland. While we do have Loyalists, they have always been a minority of the Natives and the mood of the protests is for independence, not union with the Empire. Polling has even suggested they would prefer rule from Taiwan than us. Of course, they will prefer us to Beijing, at least they finally see the light on that, but long-term rule risks alienation and it's about as feasible as Rhodesia remaining white-lead."
"Bother." Thatcher scowled in frustration. Why couldn't the colonials be grateful for the guiding light of Britain instead of biting the hand that fed them? Before the Union Jack had been planted, Hong Kong was a sleepy backwater fishing port, and now it was the crown jewel of East Asia. So much blood and money invested in that land, and this was the thanks they got?
"Perhaps there is room for compromise. We can align ourselves in support for independence in exchange for membership in the Commonwealth, even if they choose to become a Republic. Trade and cultural ties are maintained, the Left is satisfied at 'responsible decolonization', we can close the Empire with dignity, the Queen shall approve, and British prestige is maintained." Pym argued.
"Yes, the Commonwealth." Thatcher drawled. While a splendid concept, the Commonwealth had fallen far from its intended purpose and was now little more than a fancy club for the Royal Family to lead than any significant contribution of hard power or show of British greatness that the Empire was. In a way, Thatcher was indebted to Argentina's stupidity. The Falklands were a good showing of British Power, a reminder to the world that they were the Third strongest nation and were the nation on which the sun never sets. Now to keep that title with Hong Kong.
"I suppose..." Thatcher began, feeling her throat form a bitter taste, "If there are no viable alternatives that Commonwealth membership can be satisfactory. If China can tolerate Taiwan's de facto independence, then they should live with Hong Kong as an independent state."
"From a strategic standpoint, it also does wonders for any potential military engagement. There was too many sympathetic to Argentina's stance in the war and even most of our traditional allies would balk at a war in favor of colonization. But a war in defense of an sovereign, independent city-state against a totalitarian aggressor would rally the West behind us, most importantly eliminating any opposition within the States and rallying Washington for the Special Relationship." Francis argued.
"So long as Ronald is in office, America shall always stand in arms for a free Hong Kong." Thatcher expressed confidently. Indeed, she largely suspected that the reason Beijing didn't "Conquer Hong Kong in an afternoon" as Deng suggested was the silent American deterrent, enhanced by how Thatcher and Reagan had shown strong chemistry and solidarity in public. An America that saw the ROC as true China and was in active detente with Hanoi was a dangerous competitor that would keep Beijing in check.
"And it can simply be overturned with a Democratic victory just as a Labour Parliament will throw away the Empire. It should never be forgotten that only a decade ago Nixon, a Republican was the one who opened up Beijing. We can't gamble Hong Kong over what is at best a six year partnership." Carrington warned, which Thatcher nodded in concession.
At that moment, the meeting was interrupted by a rather uncharacteristic burst of the Prime Minister's office door which had Thatcher shook as MI6 Chief Colin Figures lumbered forward, red faced and sweating with a wheezing breath.
"Good Lord Colin, show some basic decorum." Carrington chastised, though the fact that the head of British Intelligence burst into Downing Street was not a good sign at all.
"What's going on?!" Thatcher demanded, fearful that she was about to oversee her second war in office.
Figures waited a few seconds to catch his breath, trying his best to refill his lungs, "Ma'am....we just received a notice from minders in the States. Bruce O'Brian is set to fly to Hong Kong in the next few days."
At the news, the color was drained from all Brits present with the Hong Kong situation going from what felt like a manageable powder keg into a nuclear device.
"What in the bloody blazes is that sod doing in Hong Kong? He just got back from Monaco, shouldn't he be making Star Wars movies?" Pym complained.
When Bruce had rescued Princesses Grace and Stephanie, his already high popularity skyrocketed in the UK for performing such a daring feat and rescuing literal royalty like his fictional counterpart Han Solo. He even received a public thanks from the Queen, which while some nice fluff on the surface, presented further headaches for Thatcher in that Bruce was one of Reagan's most important supporters and had a strong interest in the Troubles thanks to familial ties on both sides of the border. Thatcher swore she lost a year from her life when he did a layover at Belfast.
"That's the bizarre thing, he's doing it to appear in some sort of kung fu movie from a no-name local director." Figures informed, which baffled the attending guests.
"Absolute bollocks! The man refuses to set foot in Hong Kong for his memorial to Bruce Lee out of fear for his life, but he'll taunt Beijing just for some credit in a B-film. This is Reagan and the CIA pulling some stunt I tell you!" Carrington said in annoyance.
Thatcher took a sip of tea, doing her best to fight the migraine that was approaching. Bloody Americans, they thought they were heroes of the story and could do whatever they want without consequences. It appears that no matter his philanthropism and charm, that Bruce O'Brian was just another egotistical git from Hollywood full of himself.
"Peter, phone Washington and have Oliver demand a meeting with Ronald without delay. I'll try to establish a phone call as soon as possible and sort out this mess. In the meantime, I want everything there is to know about this production and find out if there is any CIA involvement. Try to convince O'Brian to stay away, but if he's so adamant, make sure MI5 provides him with the highest security. A bloodless break-in was enough for America to toss China under the bus. Lord only knows what will happen if that man sheds blood in Hong Kong."
A/N: In regards to the Falklands War, I did some research and found there was nothing from the TL that would stop Argentina from launching the war. Maybe they would be hesitant based off of global response to Romania, but their economy was probably worse here and I can imagine Argentina thinking they can frame it as an anti-colonial conflict so long as they don't commit war crimes. Here, the UK would definitively win with no reason not to, but also I think Thatcher would undertake military reform after becoming PM due to Romania. So if anything, Falklands become even more of a crushing British victory, and at most that changes is maybe Reagan goes all in support for Britain from day one instead of trying to push for peace at first.
