Britain proposed to turn HK into a self-governing dominion like (non-democratic) Singapore - aka grant HK dejure independence from China - which obviously China

Britain proposed to turn HK into a self-governing dominion like (non-democratic) Singapore - aka grant HK dejure independence from China - which obviously China would reject since it would circumvent handover. Hence ZhouEnlai labeling it as a plot / conspiracy. Most of the Thatcher memo was about trying to maintain British "control"/administration post handover to help with investor confidence (and British influence). This QZ article is repeating a fairly disingenuous interpretation of the documents to suggest some missed opportunity for democratic reforms. The original narrative was put forth by VJMedia which bias towards HK local-ism (pro-independence). There was never any effort in the 60s up until years before handover to grant subjects of HK liberties or self-governance within the context of Extension of Hong Kong Territory lease.