AS THE royal yacht, Britanaia, steamed into Hong Kong Harbour yesterday for the final stage of the British withdrawal from its 156 year old colony, Beijing announced that it would send a 39 vehicle convoy of armed troops into the territory three hours before it is formally returned to China at midnight on June 30th.
The sight of the royal yacht arriving at the dockside beside the city centre on a typically wet, humid summer morning, brought home to the British in Hong Kong that the end of an era is now very near. Today the commander of British forces in Hong Kong, Maj Gen Bryan Dutton, will move his headquarters on to the Royal Navy frigate, the HMS Chatham, moored alongside the Britannia.
"By tomorrow, we will have everything actually run from here," Capt Chris Clayton told The Irish Times in an interview yesterday on board the frigate, which carries a highly sophisticated weapons system.
Prince Charles will arrive on Saturday to deliver Hong Kong back to the Chinese, and will leave on the Britannia with the Chatham as escort in the early hours of July 1st.
Some 509 soldiers of the People's Liberation Army, carrying light weapons, will cross the Chinese border at 9 p.m. on June 30th to help provide extra security for President Jiang Zemin of China and the Chinese Prime Minister, Mr Li Peng, at the hand over ceremony at Hong Kong's waterside convention centre.
Britain bowed to the new reality yesterday in conceding the Chinese demand for extra troops.
The Chinese are expected to ask for an exchange of summit meetings to mark a new era in Sino British relations when President Jiang and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, meet in Hong Kong just before the handover.
"We are confident that there will be a smooth transfer of defence responsibilities between the two garrisons," a Hong Kong government spokesman said.
Almost 200 unarmed PLA troops have already arrived in Hong Kong to prepare for the handover of military bases. A Chinese official said: "The purpose of the agreement concluded by the two sides is to ensure that the PLAN will be able to perform its defence duties in Hong Kong from zero hour of July 1st."
A legal wrangle threatens to disrupt the handover period. At midnight on June 30th, new laws restricting the right to demonstrate will come into force, according to the future Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Mr Tung Cheehwa. However, they will not be passed until about 3 a.m. on July 1st when the provisional legislature, which drafted the new legislation in mainland China, is sworn in.
Mr Tung's statement was challenged by Democratic Party members who say it is illegal to make a criminal law retroactive, and they say they will demonstrate at the Legislative Council Building, about a mile from the handover site, at midnight.