The Sunday TimesPlus

1st June 1997

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Will handover harm Hong Kong ?

By Dr. Sanjiva Wijesinha in Hong Kong

With Britain’s new Labour government due to hand Hong Kong back to China at the end of this month, the million dollar question here as the days flash past is whether things are going to change in this freewheeling territory.

"Hong Kong" observes Britain’s last colonial Governor Chris Patten, who is due to hand over power to Chinese Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa at midnight on June 30, "has been an example to the world of what men and women are capable of doing in pretty difficult circumstances."

At the time the British wrested the territory from China as a result of the infamous Opium War in 1842, most of the present colony was barren rock. One 18s93 writer haughtily dismissed Hong Kong as a "plutonic island of uninviting sterility, apparently capable only of supporting the lowest forms of organisms!"

Today, however, the territory is the fourth largest banking centre on earth, has the world’s third busiest airport and houses, the second largest stock market in all Asia. Over 400 banking institutions are spread throughout its 1060 square kilometres and the territory’s main business is creating wealth. Says Sri Lankan Dr. Chandana Fernando, who lived and worked here for over a decade, "If someone has to design a flag for Hong Kong, the most appropriate emblem would be a large red banner with a massive dollar sign in the centre!"

Due to become a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China on June 30. Hong Kong’s greatest claim to fame during the past decade is that it works. "In fact", laughs New Zealander Gillian Kraak, who has lived here for the past six years, "this place works far more successfully than either London or Beijing!"

How has such a small and crowded place, crammed almost to bursting with six million people living on just over a thousand square kilometres, so loosely regulated and so consistently under threat, become so efficient, so rich and so powerful?

Perhaps Hong Kong has succeeded because the natural trading acumen of the race Napoleon once described as a nation of shopkeepers was able, through colonising this outpost of China, to marry with the energy, the entrepreneurial spirit and the amazing work ethos of the Chinese. The century and more of British/Chinese cohabitation was conveniently presided over by colonial administrators who exercised only a lax authority and extracted a minimum of taxes, allowing those who cared to toil to accumulate wealth far beyond their expectations.

Will the honeymoon end with Hong Kong reverting to Communist Chinese rule on June 30?

Nobody can be sure - but judging from appearances here, it seems that the transition is going to be peaceful with the vast majority wanting only to be left alone to continue making money. And China is unlikely to find fault with this approach, since a lot of their golden eggs have already been placed confidently in the Hong Kong basket!

But what will the communist takeover - or the "Great Chinese Take-away" as some wags describe it - mean for the people of Hong Kong - many of whom originally fled to the British territory when the communists took over the mainland?

In common with many Hong Kong professionals, Professor John Wong, head of the department of surgery at Hong Kong University, looks forward to the cultural enhancement that will result from reunification with China. At the same time, he says, "What we all wish for is stability and prosperity, together with the protection of human rights."

Human rights and respect for the individual are high on the list of requirements of popular legislator Emily Lau, who adds "Freedom and democracy are the most important things for Hong Kong’s future development."

For the present, the Hong Kong dollar is strong, the economy is thriving and the territory remains a living example of what hard-working humans can do if, their ambitions unleashed and their actions virtually unregulated by petty politicians and bureaucrats, they harness their talents and set out ruthlessly and single-mindedly to manufacture their fortunes.

‘’It is the people of Hong Kong," says Governor Patten - "who have made, and will continue to make, the difference."

And though the Governor may change, though the garrison may change, even though the flag and coat of arms may change - the people of Hong Kong will not change.

As I watched the thousands of Hong Kongers scurrying purposefully from the Star Ferry to their workplaces in the Central business district at 7.30 in the morning, I realised the truth of Governor Patten’s words. ‘’These folk have made this city into a success almost without parallel - a model for Asia, bringing together the best of East and West - and I’m sure that even after we British leave here, they’ll keep it that way."


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