It makes me sad to see this, less than 20 years on. Chris Patten (last governor, and something of a surprise appointment) made a big effort to shape the handov

It makes me sad to see this, less than 20 years on. Chris Patten (last governor, and something of a surprise appointment) made a big effort to shape the handover agreement to give democracy the best chance of surviving. He ended up quite popular in HK and deeply disliked in Beijing. He has often spoken that one of his biggest regrets was he and Britain couldn't have achieved more and complained that British governments haven't criticised China enough since handover (most recently having a pop at George Osbourne last year). You end up with the impression his 5 years there made more impact on him than the rest of his career.