The Hong Kong Diaries

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In another incident, Lu wanted to disgrace Patten but did so in a subtle manner. Lu refused to greet Patten at the airport. However, as practiced in Chinese culture, Lu did not take this insult to an extreme, and apologized to Patten for not being at the airport. Hence, some ‘face’ was preserved for both Patten and Lu. The people of Hong Kong realise that he is fighting for their future, for their freedom. Many had risked their lives to escape Red China for Hong Kong. Now, as the 1997 handover approaches, they are fleeing the colony in their thousands, to Australia, America, Canada. Those who can get jobs abroad – doctors, lawyers, ministers, engineers and financial experts. It is a huge brain drain on Hong Kong; even China can see that it is losing its administrative class. There are also very different views across the Foreign Office about how to deal with all this. There is a cadre at the top of older Sinophiles who think that only people with their experience of dealing with the Chinese know quite how to behave. They pretty well take it for granted that ultimately you have to go along with Beijing rather than risk arguments. There is a group in the middle, about my own age, who seem to be prepared to be rather more robust with the Chinese. A younger group are much more ebullient in their views and think we should flex our own muscles occasionally. A big and dangerous occasion tonight. We agreed some time ago to do an Any Questions? BBC broadcast from the ballroom in GH. I didn’t realise what a storm I was about to create. I had rehearsed beforehand what I should say if asked about the holders of dependent-territory passports being given right of abode in the UK. In my reply, I said that I thought that a British passport shouldn’t just be about helping people to hop on and off an aeroplane; nor that this would mean that everyone with one of the dependent-territory passports would get on a plane and head for the United Kingdom. Sunday 24 September Beijing claims all of the island as its own territory, and has said it is determined to retake it, by force if necessary. Chris Patten. File Photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP.

Like South Koreans, Chinese regard consuming dog meat as normal. However, in British Hong Kong, the Dogs and Cats Ordinance of 1950 prohibits the slaughter of dogs for use as food. The loss of Soda signifies Sino-British cultural differences in dog domestication. On the disappearance of Soda, Gareth Evans, former Australia’s Foreign Minister, made a joke during a banquet dinner that Chinese ate Soda. One newspapers headline reports, ‘Chinese eat governor’s dog’. Evans later was required to clarify his remarks upon China’s inquiry! (p.80) minutely observe[s] how China broke its promises - first insidiously and gradually and then openly and suddenly - and the impact on the lives of Hong Kongers ... Patten's diaries of his frustrating yet rewarding stint as governor cover the years from 1992 to the 1997 handover ... [he] is a genial and self-deprecating companion through the years leading up to the handover ... In the course of his diaries, Patten argues convincingly that for Britain or any other country to abandon liberal principles and yield to the Chinese Communist party's demands at every opportunity brings neither political nor commercial benefits. The trade and investment statistics he cites from the final decades of British rule do indeed suggest there is little correlation between grovelling and real rewards for business. Victor Mallet, Financial Times The former Conservative party chairman said things went “downhill” in the city partly because Xi and his colleagues were “terrified” of what Hong Kong actually stands for.

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Conversely, Chinese delegates are much more reserved. Plans and intentions are not open to the public and a wide range of facts and ideas are often brought to negotiations. Chinese negotiators often prefer settling disagreements ‘under the table’ with formal negotiations serving as more or less a ‘rubber stamp’ for decisions reached behind the scenes. Unlike British, Chinese prefer hiding their intentions and let their counterparts guess their preferences. For example, Lu Ping, Head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, PRC (hereafter Lu) did not directly denounce Patten’s tough negotiation style. Instead, Lu emphasized how he had maintained strong friendships with Patten’s four predecessors. He implicitly used the skills of ‘China-speak for itself’, warning Patten to “better toe the line just like the [four predecessors]” (p.71). In other words, Lu wanted Patten to soften Patten’s tough negotiation style and cooperated with them. Patten's diaries over the next five years describe in detail his day-to-day battles with the Chinese ... a terrific tale, one that will appeal not just to Sinologists but to all historians, since it is effectively a record of the end days of an empire ... At times, the diaries read like a novel ... His chatty style makes the[m] an easy read Simon Murray, Daily Telegraph The 25th anniversary marks the halfway point of Beijing’s “One Country, Two Systems” promise for Hong Kong, a deal that was enshrined in the 1984 joint declaration signed by British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang. Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and then-UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher talk in Beijing over Hong Kong’s future. File Photo: Internet. I hope she won’t mind too much the fact that one of her sisters will be in Newcastle and the other in Hong Kong, because that is what our youngest Alice has decided she wants to do. I think most parents sooner or later come to understand that as their children grow older they morph from colonial dependencies into rival sovereignties. Sunday 5 July

Hong Kong's last British governor accuses Beijing of 'vengefully' targeting city's freedoms - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP Close The book gives unprecedented insights into negotiating with the Chinese, about how the institutions of democracy in Hong Kong were (belatedly) strengthened and how Patten sought to ensure that a strong degree of self-government would continue after 1997.I am immensely excited by the prospect. It would be a difficult job, but I think it is important to show the world that we can handle this last imperial responsibility in a decent way and which doesn’t betray the people of Hong Kong. As once one of the world’s freest cities, Hong Kong had everything going for it. Politically, it was already free. But Western liberal democracy favours procedural issues and elections, while it happily ignores substantive or actual freedoms.

Chinese in Hong Kong are well known for their perseverance and hardworking attitude. After the fall of the Ch’ing Dynasty, many people encountered civil war, foreign invasions, famine, and radical political campaigns such as ‘People’s Commune’ the Great Leap Forward, and ‘self-condemnation’ during the Cultural Revolution. Suffering from starvation and political turmoil, many fled from mainland China to Hong Kong, and in doing so, brought aspects of traditional Chinese culture to Hong Kong. In traditional Chinese culture, men are breadwinners while women stay at home and do household chores. Confucianism requires women to be obedient and subservient to their family and husband. British also value hardworking colleagues but never ignore their family life even though they are in extremely busy at work. They accept the work-life balance to a far greater degree than is found in Chinese culture. Patten’s diaries are not recommended for those in search of a “speed read”. They are long, and sometimes one is as tired as Patten must have been at the end of his days of endless meetings with the Chinese. They tell, however, a terrific tale, one that will appeal not just to Sinologists but to all historians, since it is effectively a record of the end days of an empire which, at its height in 1922, was the largest the world had ever seen, covering a third of the world’s land and ruling over 459 million people. In Patten's diaries we see everyone from Mother Teresa to Margaret Thatcher passing through the governor's living room ... Eschewing the feathered hat, the uniform and all the other flummery that goes with governing an outpost of the British empire, he plunges into a series of walkabouts, holds public meetings, looks for ways of redistributing some wealth and makes no secret of his sympathy for the democrats. One way The Diaries reveals the impact of culture is its documentation of the differences in negotiating styles. Patten documents how British negotiators often disclose large amounts of information during negotiations, and also often let the rivals know their intentions.

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Perhaps Hongkongers are only wistful about the disappearing way of living and declining influence, rather than the colonial rule and its employees. Evidently, Patten is not best remembered for his contribution to democracy. In my opinion, he has a less noticeable legacy: many people have not bought into the CCP side of things because of his charisma. That alone means more than any veritable achievement to the people. If any puppet wishes to term it ‘sowing discord’, so be it. They may have a hard time pointing out where the umbilical cord is. Lu] complained that Beijing had not been properly consulted, that he [Lu] and his colleagues were not being given any face, that we [Chinese] were bouncing them with these proposals, that they [British] were out of step with the Basic Law. The Hong Kong Diaries ... details his persistent but ultimately failed efforts to secure the continuance of Hong Kong's freedoms ... Despite Mr. Patten's best efforts, Hong Kong became the canary in the mine shaft, showing what happens when the Chinese Communist Party is allowed to get its way. There is also a rather large amount of triviality peppered in the entries, things like pets, parties and tennis lessons, etc. They seemed to be superfluous distractions at first, but by the end of the book, they collectively served a purpose of painting a human picture of the author, his private personality beyond his official roles. Unexpectedly, his opponents included not only the Chinese themselves, but some British businessmen and civil service mandarins upset by Patten's efforts, for whom political freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong seemed less important than keeping on the right side of Beijing. The book concludes with an account of what has happened in Hong Kong since the handover, a powerful assessment of recent events and Patten's reflections on how to deal with China - then and now.