table was not realised as the UMELCO were excluded from Sino-British talks in 1983. The Unofficial Members of the Executive Council (UMEXCO) sent two missions to London to voice their opinions to the British government in July and October 1983, in which in the second mission Chung was told by Thatcher that a compromise had to be reached. In December, Governor Edward Youde told the UMELCO that Britain had decided to return the sovereignty and administration of Hong Kong to China on 1 July 1997 but was not known to the public until 20 April 1984. In response, the UMELCO met on 24 February 1984 which came up with a strategy to mobilise public opinion on the Sino-British agreement and make known Hong Kong's views to the British and Hong Kong governments. Senior Member of the Legislative Council Roger Lobo proposed a motion on 14 March to request "any proposal for the future of Hong Kong should be debated in this council before any final agreement is reached." Sino-British Joint Declaration After Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe announced that Britain would withdraw from Hong Kong on 1 July 1997, UMELCO believed it was vital that a Sino-British agreement acceptable to the majority of Hong Kong people be reached so as to ensure the prosperity, stability and liberty of Hong Kong as set out in UMELCO's position paper of May 1984. Armed with the position paper's six concerns, two questions and four requests on the agreement, UMELCO's members flew to London but were snubbed by Members of Parliament, former Prime Minister Edward Heath and former Hong Kong Governor Sir Murray MacLehose. Howe said the UMELCO delegation did not represent the Hong Kong people as its members were not elected. Heath even said "these unofficial members, appointed by the governor, do not represent the people of Hong Kong. They never have done and they never will." Stung by this humiliation, Chun urged the Hong Kong people to submit their opinions on the agreement as the delegation exited the parliament surrounded by reporters. The UMELCO office subsequently received close to 10,000 messages of support, while a survey showed that about 70 to 90 per cent of Hong Kong residents supported UMELCO's position paper. In June 1984, Chung headed a three-member delegation, including Lydia Dunn and Lee Quo-wei, to meet with Deng Xiaoping in Beijing. At the meeting, Deng dismissed the idea of a