Description
Book SynopsisHong Kong is at the heart of modern China's position as a regional - and potential world - superpower. In this important and original history of the region, Steve Tsang argues that its current prosperity is a direct by-product of the British administrators who ran the place as a colony before the handover in 1997.The British administration of Hong Kong uniquely derived its practices from the best traditions of Imperial Chinese government and its philosophical, Confucian basis. It stressed efficiency, honesty, fairness, benevolent paternalism and individual freedom. The result was a hugely successful colony, especially in industry and finance, and it remains so today with its new status of Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.Under British imperial administration, Hong Kong grew from a collection of fishing villages to an international entrepot, an industrial power and an international financial centre. British and Chinese interests dovetailed and the Chinese population was satisfied by the welfare reform and economic advancement perpetuated by Britain's administrative officers. Demand for constitutional reform and a sense of Hong Kong Chinese identity grew only as the handover to China approached.This definitive history of the colourful individuals who administered the colony on behalf of the British government sheds light on two empires inextricably linked in nature and on the philosophy of government.
Trade Review'An indispensable work for reference as well as for inspired historical interpretation.' Wm. Roger Louis, Kerr Professor at the University of Texas at Austin 'Governing Hong Kong is an investigation into the central importance of Administrative Officers (called Cadets until 1959) in the Hong Kong civil service and into the difference they made to the quality of governance. Based on archival research, extensive interviewing, surveys and a comprehensive bibliography, this unique, scholarly and well-presented book is a major contribution to knowledge in several inter-related fields.' - Brian Hook, former Editor of the China Quarterly and Visiting Professor of China Studies, Middlesex University Business School 'Meticulously researched and convincingly argued, Governing Hong Kong is an example of original, detailed yet stimulating historical scholarship at its best' Anthony Kirk-Greene, Emeritus Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford
Table of ContentsAcronyms and Abbreviations Preface Chapter 1. Governance in a colonial society Chapter 2. The cadet scheme Chapter 3. Benevolent paternalism Chapter 4. Effects of the Pacific War Chapter 5. Expansion Chapter 6. Meeting the challenges of a Chinese community Chapter 7. Localization Chapter 8. Meeting the challenges of modernity Chapter 9. An elite within the government Chapter 10. Inhibited elitism Notes References Index
