Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary
- Map: Hong Kong, 1997
- Introduction: prewar colony
- 1 Reoccupation: postwar comeback, 1945–7
- 2 Consolidation: the Grantham years, 1947–58
- 3 Growth: the 1960s
- 4 Transformation: the MacLehose years, 1971–82
- 5 Negotiations: Sino-British diplomacy, 1982–92
- 6 Confrontation: the Patten years, 1992–5
- 7 Future: to 1997 and beyond
- 8 Conclusions: endgame
- Appendixes
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - Future: to 1997 and beyond
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary
- Map: Hong Kong, 1997
- Introduction: prewar colony
- 1 Reoccupation: postwar comeback, 1945–7
- 2 Consolidation: the Grantham years, 1947–58
- 3 Growth: the 1960s
- 4 Transformation: the MacLehose years, 1971–82
- 5 Negotiations: Sino-British diplomacy, 1982–92
- 6 Confrontation: the Patten years, 1992–5
- 7 Future: to 1997 and beyond
- 8 Conclusions: endgame
- Appendixes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In its short but dazzling history, Hong Kong has demonstrated what hardworking men and women can achieve. The People of Hong Kong are walking tall and looking forward to the 50 years beyond 1997, which will no doubt be even more successful than the prior 50 years.
(David H.T. Lan, principal representative of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Tokyo, 24 January 1995)To say that one country, two systems can work has always required an article of faith.
(Henry Kissinger, Far Eastern Economic Review, 16 November 1995)Hong Kong is glamour and misery. It has always been a place of such stark contrasts but in the last generation the space between the extremes of mega-wealth and destitution has been filled increasingly by a better educated, more confident middle class. The city-state's present position in the international order owes a great deal to the energy of the sons and daughters of those who escaped from China after the war. The recent prosperity of the territory has enabled hundreds of thousands to join, however perilously, the ranks of the more fortunate in a manner that was almost inconceivable only thirty years ago. By a host of standards, material, technological and cultural, the lives of many, perhaps the majority, of the residents in Hong Kong have shifted from gaining the basic necessities of existence to joining the growing ranks of the bourgeoisie.
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- Information
- Hong Kong: The Road to 1997 , pp. 146 - 163Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997