The Fate of Hong Kong/the Coming of 1997 and What Lies Beyond - Hardcover

Segal, Gerald

9780312098056: The Fate of Hong Kong/the Coming of 1997 and What Lies Beyond

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312098057 ISBN 13: 9780312098056

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1993

Describes the changes already brought about by the British agreement to turn Hong Kong over to China in 1997, and speculates on what the effect of Chinese rule will be

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From Kirkus Reviews:

Incisive but dispassionate speculations about the future, come 1997 and beyond, of Britain's last vestige of glory and empire as Hong Kong reunites with China. Segal (Rethinking the Pacific, 1991, etc.--not reviewed), editor of The Pacific Review, speculates that ``as Hong Kong and southern China converge, there is a risk of major upheavals in the region....'' This warning calls to mind vivid images of Tiananmen Square, but, rather than getting involved in the human drama, Segal chooses to examine the economic and political aspects of the onetime jewel of East Asia. Convergence with China, he concludes, will slow down Hong Kong--though not its brain drain, with the US, Canada, and Australia being the ‚migr‚s' chief destinations. Though ``Hong Kong is not doomed to become another Shanghai,'' other nation-states, including Singapore and South Korea, will surpass it economically. Because Hong Kong and Britain have been coupled for over one hundred years, it's not surprising that the British government has been criticized by many for signing the 1984 agreement that reverted sovereignty to China. But Segal contends that, because Britain wasn't prepared to defend Hong Kong militarily, the hand-over was inevitable. And while the loss of Hong Kong lessens Britain's world status, that nation will gain by sheltering about 400,000 industrious, moneyed people from its former colony. Plausible, well-supported prophecies. -- Copyright �1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Noting that the "fortune of Hong Kong has always been tied up with the fortune of China," Segal (Rethinking the Pacific ) presents what he sees as China's options when the British leave Hong Kong in 1997. If China continues to encourage regional entrepreneurism, as it is doing in Guandong province, then, Segal indicates, it seems likely that Hong Kong will lose its unique position as the sole "window on the international trading system." Conversely, what will be the foreseeable effects if Hong Kong does remain that only window? And how will China's decisions affect emigration, local and international investment and trade? Such questions provide springboards for Segal's acute, well-informed analyses of the past policies of Taiwan, Australia, Britain, Canada and the U.S. towards China and Hong Kong, and the potential future repercussions, particularly on immigration policies. But since China's intentions are still unpredictable, Segal's erudite meditations and review of Asian politics seem like a sophisticated exercise in reading tea leaves.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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