A Documentary History of Hong Kong: Government and Politics

PREFACE

PREFACE The฀firs t฀da y฀o f฀July฀199 7฀wil l฀se e฀the฀en d฀o f฀15 6฀year s฀of฀Britis h฀rul e฀i n฀Hon g฀ Kong,฀starting฀from฀the฀occupation฀of฀the฀island฀of฀Hong฀Kong฀by฀the฀Royal฀Nav y฀ in฀January฀1841 .฀It฀will฀als o฀mark฀the฀return฀of฀Hong฀Kong฀to฀Chinese฀rule,฀albeit฀ under฀an฀arrangement฀know n฀as฀'one฀country,฀two฀systems'.฀Some฀will฀n o฀doub t฀ choose฀to฀commemorate฀the฀former฀while฀others฀may฀wish฀to฀celebrate฀the฀latter ,฀ according฀to฀political฀or฀nationalistic฀sentiments.฀This฀volume฀will฀attempt฀neither.฀ An฀historia n฀b y฀discipline,฀I ฀am฀happ y฀to฀le t฀others฀do฀so.฀ As฀a฀documentary฀history ,฀this฀volume฀i s฀meant฀to฀explain฀an d฀illustrate ,฀by฀ the฀judicious฀selection฀and฀reproduction฀of฀public฀and฀private฀papers,฀the฀political฀ history฀of฀Hong฀Kong฀under฀the฀British,฀from฀184 1฀to฀the฀present.฀Documents฀are฀ not฀necessaril y฀dul l฀an d฀dry.฀Rather,฀they฀can฀b e฀lively฀an d฀will฀giv e฀a฀flavour฀o f฀ the฀tim e฀a s฀they฀narrate ,฀explain฀an d฀analys e฀th e฀natur e฀o f฀th e฀politica l฀syste m฀ and฀the฀forces฀behin d฀it s฀changes฀i n฀Hon g฀Kong .฀The฀introductor y฀remark s฀an d฀ commentaries฀will ,฀I ฀hope,฀blend฀wit h฀th e฀selecte d฀document s฀t o฀mak e฀thi s฀as฀ readable฀a s฀a฀general฀politica l฀history .฀ In฀compiling฀thi s฀volume,฀I ฀have฀strived฀to฀b e฀as฀fair฀an d฀judiciou s฀a s฀I฀can฀ about฀the฀nature฀of฀British฀imperial฀rule฀in฀Hong฀Kong.฀In฀an฀age฀when฀'colonialism'฀ and฀'imperialism '฀ar e฀dirt y฀words ,฀i t฀i s฀eas y฀fo r฀on e฀t o฀sid e฀wit h฀th e฀apparen t฀ victims,฀the฀subjects฀of฀colonial฀rule ,฀and฀chastise฀the฀imperialists.฀To฀take฀such฀a฀ position฀is ,฀as฀all฀goo d฀historians฀will฀agree ,฀as฀objectionable฀a s฀to฀side฀with฀th e฀ imperialists฀an d฀blo w฀thei r฀trumpet s฀uncritically .฀Indeed ,฀i n฀a ฀cas e฀lik e฀Hon g฀ Kong฀which,฀as฀a฀British฀imperial฀possession฀populated฀primarily฀b y฀the฀Chinese,฀ has฀dazzle d฀th e฀worl d฀wit h฀man y฀o f฀it s฀wel l฀earne d฀achievements ,฀on e฀need s฀ only฀commo n฀sens e฀and฀logica l฀thinkin g฀to฀realize฀that฀the฀record฀of฀Britis h฀rul e฀ there฀i s฀not฀a฀simple฀black-and-white฀issue .฀ Whether฀I ฀have฀succeeded฀or฀no t฀I ฀shall฀leav e฀you฀to฀judge.฀ Steve฀Tsang฀ January฀199 5฀ X฀ Government฀an d฀Politic s฀ Although฀n o฀materia l฀fro m฀th e฀man y฀thousand s฀o f฀page s฀of฀transcrip t฀ha s฀been฀ reproduced฀i n฀this฀volume,฀and฀the฀confidence฀of฀the฀contributors฀to฀the฀Projec t฀ is฀fully฀respected ,฀I฀must฀register฀my฀gratitude฀to฀all฀the฀contributors฀to฀the฀Project.฀ I฀canno t฀unlear n฀wha t฀I ฀have฀learne d฀fro m฀man y฀hour s฀o f฀intens e฀discussion s฀ with฀them .฀These฀meeting s฀hav e฀helpe d฀m e฀understan d฀bette r฀th e฀etho s฀o f฀th e฀ Hong฀Kong฀Government,฀and฀gain฀a฀more฀realistic฀assessment฀of฀the฀concerns฀of฀ policy฀maker s฀behin d฀importan t฀decision s฀tha t฀affecte d฀th e฀live s฀o f฀millions .฀I฀ shall฀not฀name฀any฀of฀the฀many฀distinguished฀contributors฀to฀the฀Oxford฀Universit y฀ Hong฀Kon g฀Project .฀They฀kno w฀wh o฀the y฀are .฀I฀thank฀them฀fo r฀sharing฀with฀m e฀ their฀invaluabl e฀experience s฀an d฀insights ,฀whic h฀hav e฀helpe d฀m e฀t o฀formulat e฀ my฀interpretativ e฀framework .฀ This฀volume฀is฀part฀of฀a฀bigger฀project฀for฀a฀series฀of฀a฀documentary฀histor y฀of฀ Hong฀Kong฀funded฀by฀the฀British฀Academy.฀Given฀the฀very฀tight฀research฀funding฀ in฀Britis h฀universitie s฀thes e฀days,฀i t฀i s฀only฀fai r฀fo r฀m e฀to฀admi t฀tha t฀this฀volum e฀ would฀no t฀have฀been฀attempted,฀let฀alone฀completed,฀without฀the฀support฀of฀the฀ British฀Academy .฀ Last฀but฀not฀least,฀I฀wish฀to฀recor d฀m y฀gratitude฀to฀the฀following฀institutions ,฀ publishers฀an d...