As it neared 11:30 PM June 30 1997, the guests were all in the Convention Centre. Reporters and representatives from other nations, including US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (she would leave before the swearing-in of the new government because it was the position of the United States that the new government was not legitimate since it was not democratically elected and had replaced one which was) and the woman whose government had signed the Joint Declaration with China in 1984 agreeing on the exact conditions of transfer of sovereinty, Margaret Thatcher.
Then, the two delegations arrived. The Chinese delegation was led by President Jiang Zemin, Premier Li Peng, new Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Che-Hwa, the Chinese Foreign Minister, and a high-ranking army official. The British delegation was led by Charles, Prince of Wales, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Hong Kong Governor Christopher Patten, the British Foreign Secretary, and the commander of British forces in Hong Kong.
