three-legged stool 三腳櫈

three-legged stool
繁：三腳櫈
简：三脚凳

當年中英談判，英方想搞「三腳櫈」，讓香港在談判桌上也有角色，謀求以「二對一」爭取更多談判籌碼，就算無法在1997年後維持對香港的主權，至少亦可做到「主權換治權」，延續對港管治。

鍾士元求50年不變 維持現狀港人心願（2018年11月15日）。明報，取自https://news.mingpao.com/pns/dailynews/web_tc/article/20181116/s00017/1542307290333

During the Sino-British negotiations, the British attempted to set up a “three-legged stool” by proposing to allow Hong Kong to play a role in the negotiations.

Editorial: Chung Sze-yuen’s endeavour. (2018, November 16). Ming Pao. Retrieved from https://news.mingpao.com/pns/dailynews/web_tc/article/20181116/s00017/1542307290333