The transition from British to Chinese rule, although widely anticipated, is shaping up as one of the most challenging events in Hong Kong's history. It also constitutes a highly complex exercise in social, political, economic and legal engineering from an international perspective. The intricacies of the transition, both at the analytical and practical levels, have been addressed by scholars in different fields. The international legal dimension of the process, however, has thus far been tackled in a piecemeal fashion.

The purpose of this book is to examine the key relevant issues within a single framework, highlighting the interconnections in as broad as possible a context. The author employs international legal concepts to assess, from a normative standpoint, the underpinnings of the unique 'one country-two systems' formula devised by Britain and China, focusing in detail on questions such as Hong Kong's international legal status, jurisdictional competence, international legal obligations, human rights, pivotal aspects of treaty law and the relationship between Hong Kong's domestic law and international law.