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The UK granted those liberties and some measure of self governance only in the last years of its rule. The Governor of Hong Kong was never elected. The elected

The UK granted those liberties and some measure of self governance only in the last years of its rule. The Governor of Hong Kong was never elected. The elected portion of the legislative council was implemented rather near the end of the UK’s time in HK. For most of British HK history, the governor picked the members of the council. Basic Law which gave certain guarantees to HK didn’t even exist until 1990! That said, British rule of HK, despite the UK having fairly authoritarian levels of power, was fairly restraint. I don’t recall many HK people feeling bitter towards the UK during that time I lived there — just prior to the handover.

TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
Self-rule is sometimes, as would appear in the case of Hong Kong, orthogonal to wildly successful.
billfruit 6y ago
I thing there were large scale protests in the 60s, may be 1962 against British rule in HK. Also did Britain do enough to protect and to take back HK during WW2. If I remember correctly, HK was only given back to Britain after the final surrender of Japan in WW2. Japan had taken HK following the attack on the same day as Pearl Harbour attack.
culturestate 6y ago
> The UK granted those liberties and some measure of self governance only in the last years of its rule Hong Kong was nearly[1] granted effectively autonomous status by Britain in the 1960s. China threatened a military intervention should that happen. 1. https://qz.com/279013/the-secret-history-of-hong-kongs-stillborn-democracy/ https://qz.com/279013/the-secret-history-of-hong-kongs-still...
- arethuza 6y ago
  There is a mention in Paddy Ashdown's autobiography describing when he was in the SBS in the 1960s and they were sent undercover posing as tourists to beaches in Hong Kong to evaluate their suitability as evacuation points should China invade.
- dirtyid 6y ago
  Britain proposed to turn HK into a self-governing dominion like (non-democratic) Singapore - aka grant HK dejure independence from China - which obviously China would reject since it would circumvent handover. Hence ZhouEnlai labeling it as a plot / conspiracy. Most of the Thatcher memo was about trying to maintain British "control"/administration post handover to help with investor confidence (and British influence). This QZ article is repeating a fairly disingenuous interpretation of the documents to suggest some missed opportunity for democratic reforms. The original narrative was put forth by VJMedia which bias towards HK local-ism (pro-independence). There was never any effort in the 60s up until years before handover to grant subjects of HK liberties or self-governance within the context of Extension of Hong Kong Territory lease.

TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago

Self-rule is sometimes, as would appear in the case of Hong Kong, orthogonal to wildly successful.

billfruit 6y ago

I thing there were large scale protests in the 60s, may be 1962 against British rule in HK. Also did Britain do enough to protect and to take back HK during WW2. If I remember correctly, HK was only given back to Britain after the final surrender of Japan in WW2. Japan had taken HK following the attack on the same day as Pearl Harbour attack.

culturestate 6y ago

> The UK granted those liberties and some measure of self governance only in the last years of its rule Hong Kong was nearly[1] granted effectively autonomous status by Britain in the 1960s. China threatened a military intervention should that happen. 1. https://qz.com/279013/the-secret-history-of-hong-kongs-stillborn-democracy/ https://qz.com/279013/the-secret-history-of-hong-kongs-still...

arethuza 6y ago
There is a mention in Paddy Ashdown's autobiography describing when he was in the SBS in the 1960s and they were sent undercover posing as tourists to beaches in Hong Kong to evaluate their suitability as evacuation points should China invade.
dirtyid 6y ago
Britain proposed to turn HK into a self-governing dominion like (non-democratic) Singapore - aka grant HK dejure independence from China - which obviously China would reject since it would circumvent handover. Hence ZhouEnlai labeling it as a plot / conspiracy. Most of the Thatcher memo was about trying to maintain British "control"/administration post handover to help with investor confidence (and British influence). This QZ article is repeating a fairly disingenuous interpretation of the documents to suggest some missed opportunity for democratic reforms. The original narrative was put forth by VJMedia which bias towards HK local-ism (pro-independence). There was never any effort in the 60s up until years before handover to grant subjects of HK liberties or self-governance within the context of Extension of Hong Kong Territory lease.