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They had no choice. Not due to military might (Gibraltar would be just as defenceless against Spanish invasion, and yet it doesn't happen). But simply because h
by IAmEveryone 6y ago
They had no choice. Not due to military might (Gibraltar would be just as defenceless against Spanish invasion, and yet it doesn't happen). But simply because holding on to colonies became morally unsustainable.
And the idea at the time was certainly that China would change in the five decades until unification. This was shortly after the end of the cold war, after all, which demonstrated that such change is possible, if not inevitable.
Thinking may have changed on that point. But I wouldn't fully exclude the possibility that China 2047 is more democratic than it is today. Things remain the same, until suddenly they don't.
- tim58 6y ago> This was shortly after the end of the cold war, after all, which demonstrated that such change is possible, if not inevitable. In 1997 most people wouldn't have thought it would be possible (or at least likely) for China to both be such a powerful country and be such an authoritarian country.
- addicted 6y agoChina also wouldn’t have taken this step if a certain other world power hadn’t gone AWOL the last few years. There’s a reason they decided to ratchet up the pressure on HK the last few years. They figured that in the worst case slapping a specific brand on a few hotels in a few major Chinese cities is a cheap price to pay.
- tim58 6y ago> They figured that in the worst case slapping a specific brand on a few hotels in a few major Chinese cities is a cheap price to pay. Did they do that?