Did Britain make the right decision in ceding Hong Kong Island & Kowloon to China?

[BytheRules]

Instead of just returning the New Territories? Apparantly it was a 'a cause of controversy in Britain at the time: some were surprised that the right wing Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher would agree to such an arrangement with the Communist government of China represented by Deng Xiaoping.

[Sjoko]

Please note that there was no option. The Territories were leased to the United Kingdom for a fixed period of time. The lease ran out. All Thatcher did was try and negotiate the best possible deal for the people, which is all she was capable of doing.