Perfidious Albion: The Abandonment Of Hong Kong 1997

In this provocative study an American journalist argues that Britain has by default allowed China to determine the shape of the institutions that will govern Hong Kong after its reversion to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. The United States, he says, as the largest foreign investor in the colony, ought to play a more active role in shaping future developments in Hong Kong by adopting a more generous immigration policy and by passing the U.S.-Hong Kong Policy Act now before Congress. There is merit in McGurn's analysis but his picture of the situation seems too bleak. With the rapid economic development of Hong Kong and neighboring Kwangdung province, any future Chinese leadership will have a strong interest in maintaining Hong Kong as a financial and trade center.