1994 Hong Kong electoral reform of British administration and replaced it with the Provisional Legislative Council. The decision of transfer of the sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 was finalised by the Chinese and British governments on 18 December 1984 in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The Declaration stated that the Chinese government would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong (including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories), effective on 1 July 1997, from the British government. Within these declarations, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be under the direct jurisdiction of the Central People’s Government and shall enjoy a high degree
Governor of Hong Kong of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison. Authorities and duties of the governor were defined in the Hong Kong Letters Patent and Royal Instructions in 1843. The governor, appointed by the British monarch (on the advice of the Foreign Secretary), exercised the executive branch of the Government of Hong Kong throughout British sovereignty and, with the exception of a brief experiment after World War II, no serious attempt was made to introduce representative government, until the final years of British rule. The Governor of Hong Kong chaired the colonial cabinet, the Executive Council (ExCo), and, until 1993, was also