WI: No Sino-British Joint Declaration?

In 1985, the government of Margaret Thatcher and Deng Xiaoping signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, in which the UK promised to transfer sovereignty of the entire crown colony of Hong Kong, not just the parts of it that had been leased for 99 years in 1898. By Treaty, Britain had gained Hong Kong Island, Stonecutter's Island, and the Kowloon Peninsula "in perpetuity" from China.

What if Maraget Thatcher and subsequent British governments had decided to return only those parts Hong Kong which they were obligated to under the Second Convention of Peking? Would the Chinese have been willing to go to war over the issue, go on a "diplomatic offensive" or just threatened war while accepting the status quo (as they do with Taiwan, or "Chinese Taipei as they like to refer to it). How much would this issue affect China's relations with Great Britain after 1997?
 

Thande

Donor
This has been suggested before. The thing is that Hong Kong would be unable to survive without the New Territories and antagonising China would only encourage them to cut off the utility supplies from the mainland. Besides the fact that Thatcher wanted to keep the Chinese sweet for Cold War and commercial reasons.
 
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