When the U.K.'s 99-year lease on this crown colony ended, China retook control on July 1, 1997
[DOC] [TLE] Download - SUrface - Syracuse University [PAR] REPUBLIC OF CHINA-A FIFTY YEAR EXPERIMENT IN ... the People's Republic 
of China on the Question of Hong Kong.1 This .... sovereignty of the Crown 
Colony of Hong Kong in 1997, when the ... controlled by the PRC in matters of 
defense and foreign affairs.19 h ... lease, set the stage for PRC's retaking of the 
territory.