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547 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. 8 (1996)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0547 and id is 1 raw text is: PREFACE Hong Kong is no less fascinating to its residents than to visitors, who are entranced as their planes, nearing Kai-Tak Airport, swoop low over Kowloon, seemingly at eye level with faces upturned at apartment windows and almost on top of laundry on clotheslines. Although Americans in general know little of the Far East, and some confuse Hong Kong with the vastly different Singapore, they are beginning to take note as 1 July 1997 approaches. That day Hong Kong no longer will be a British colony and once again becomes part of China. Certainly they should take note. Hong Kong does not fit the preconceptions of many in the West, who know it, if at all, only through movies. It is a conservative-in many ways, Victorian-society. Its politically most conser- vative elements, the business and professional community, would likely startle many anti-Communist Americans by tending to support the People's Republic of China in their controversies with Great Britain. Americans in general may understand little of all this, but they should recognize that what happens to Hong Kong will affect America. Moreover, there is little in the way of precedent. Instead of becoming independent, as most colonies have done, Hong Kong will leave one master only to be taken over by another. Hong Kong was torn from China in the nineteenth century by Britain to create a colony that has become one of the world's economic marvels. That colony today (although one never hears the word colony there anymore- territory is less offensive to China's sensibilities) has an extraordinary standard of living, a vigorous and independent judiciary, and a free and outspoken society. What will become of that affluence, that judiciary, and that freedom under Chinese rule? How will the changeover affect not only Hong Kong but China itself and the rest of the world? Despite apprehension resulting from clear danger signals, it would be a mistake not to credit China with at least some measure of good intentions. China, after all, wishes to succeed and to have the benefits from a Hong Kong that continues to provide those benefits. It also wishes to have the respect of the world, a respect that its leaders recognize will vanish if they fail as rulers of Hong Kong. Of course, the view of China's current leaders as to what is necessary for success differs considerably from the view of the West or from that prevalent in Hong Kong. They have no confidence in Western-style democracy. If the West believes in democracy, they might well ask, why did Britain deny it to Hong Kong until shortly before the handover? They are suspicious that Britain has finally moved in the direction of democracy for Hong Kong as a way of undermining the likelihood of China's success. Actually, despite Britain's outstanding success in Hong Kong and the general moderation of its rule, it turned its back on the people of Hong Kong 8

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