Waves of mass migrations from Hong Kong villagers exercised their right of abode in the United Kingdom and left for Europe. In 1967, a series of large-scale riots erupted in Hong Kong, causing social instability. These events led some of the richer Hong Kong residents to move abroad. Emigration took place to countries in Southeast Asia, South Africa or South American countries. This wave did not come to a rest until the mid-1970s. On the 19th of December 1984, the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom signed the "Sino-British Joint Declaration", validated the 1997 transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong to China. The declaration prompted
Handover of Hong Kong room for compromise on the question of sovereignty over Hong Kong; the PRC, as the successor of Qing dynasty and the Republic of China on the mainland, would recover the entirety of the New Territories, Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. China considered treaties about Hong Kong as unequal and ultimately refused to accept any outcome that would indicate permanent loss of sovereignty over Hong Kong's area, whatever wording the former treaties had. During talks with Thatcher, China planned to invade and seize Hong Kong if the negotiations set off unrest in the colony. Thatcher later said that Deng told her